Given a Moment
by Svendances
Summary: Given the right moment, and everything in you life can change. Ranger is about to find this out, when Steph shows up unexpectedly, with a big surprise waiting in the wings. Ranger has a few surprises himself, will he let her in on his secrets? HEA
1. Chapter One

_This has been playing at the edges of my mind for about a year now. Now I've finally found the words to sufficiently execute the tale, so I didn't want to disappoint anyone by keeping it locked away. Here it is! Enjoy!_

**Given a Moment**

There was sand in her hair from lying in the sand box, there were grass stains on her knees from crawling around bushes, there were smudges of dirt on her clothes from her explorations, and there was a whole lot of ice cream melted on her face from the cone that was dripping on the table from her hand, but that's the way I loved her. I was never going to be like my mother had been with me, denying my imagination and chastising everything I did. No, this little girl was going to have a wonderful childhood, free of the shadow that came from being the younger sibling. Laura Emily was perfect just the way she was. I just hoped her father would think the same way, you see, there was a little technicality that meant he hadn't yet met her, nor did he even know about her, but that was about to change.

We were in town for a specific reason, to surprise dear Ricardo for his birthday; at his birthday party to be specific. It wasn't just Ricardo I had kept this little adorable little secret from, it was pretty much everyone; the only exception being my father, and little Laura's Uncle Lester. That's who we were waiting for now, Lester, not Dad. Strangely enough, though, he was running late. It was very unlike him, or any of the Rangeman men, to be late at all. They were always prompt.

"Where is he?" I asked Laura. She gazed past me and started giggling. I turned to find Lester just lowering his hand from his lips, he seemed to be mid sneak. Three guesses who he was sneaking up on. "There you are!" I exclaimed, jumping up to hug him. "I was worried you weren't going to show!"

"Yeah, so was I; I had a spot of trouble getting away from the office alone. Don't worry, I'm sure nobody followed me, plus I disabled the GPS unit." He paused for a moment, really looking at me for the first time. "Wow! You look great!"

I felt colour rise in my cheeks as I looked down at my fitted jeans and stretchy top. "I'm no different to last time you saw me."

He grinned. "Yeah, but that was months ago, I needed to remind you."

At that moment Laura came running full pelt toward him, screaming, "Uncle Lester!" I managed to stop her about a foot from his pants leg. And she struggled against the restraints. "Mummy! I want to hug Uncle Lester!"

Smiling down at her I told her, "You can, just as soon as you've cleaned yourself up. I don't want you getting chocolate all over his nice clean uniform. Go get the Wet Ones." She sulked off to the abandoned table in search of the Wet Ones and we followed behind, grinning widely. "I figured you'd be questioned why you had melted ice cream smeared on you. The rest of it you could handle, but ice cream's a little out of the ordinary to be smeared on clothes for a security worker."

Laughing, he responded with, "Well it wasn't so uncommon with you."

I gave him my best glare and helped Laura to wipe the chocolate from her hands and face. By the time I was finished, she was practically jumping in anticipation. Lester opened his arms and she ran into them without hesitation. Instead of simply hugging her, however, he ended up spinning her around in the air to the tune of her giggles. Eventually he stopped spinning and positioned her on his hip. "How are you, Squirt?"

Laura put on her serious face. "I'm good, Uncle Lester. How are you?"

"I'm in the mood for tickling!" And he did. Laura's laughter filled the air for several minutes and he continued his assault and I sat down to wait for an end.

In the end they both collapsed on the grass, giggling. Laura climbed on his chest, looking into his face and traced her fingers over his features. A frown furrowed her cute little brow and she stated, "This is a new scar. What happened?"

"A knife happened," Lester said, sobering instantly. "But we're not here to talk about my face, we're here to organise tonight!" He jumped to his feet in one swift motion and carried Laura over to where I sat. She sat between us on the bench seat following the conversation with great interest. For a three year old she didn't miss much, it was rather scary at times, actually. I'm sure she got it from her father, that and her big brown eyes.

After that we got into the car and followed Lester to his house, where he had insisted we stay. Not only was he insisting we stay there, he was refusing to even allow me to carry even one of our bags in. I had no other choice than to sit on the stairs and watch him pass several times carry them all in.

Exhausted from the morning's explorations, Laura was passed out leaning against my knee as I absently stroked her gorgeous curls, occasionally twirling one around my finger. My own hair was cut short and chemically straightened; I liked it and all, but sometimes I miss my mop, which is why I'm grateful the Laura inherited my hair. I was starting to get nervous about tonight now, what if he didn't want me anymore? What if he didn't want Laura? Would I just be added to his string of mistakes? Would Laura end up like Julie? Only seeing her father twice a year? Admittedly, after the Scrog incident it had increased to every three months, but that still was no relationship I wanted my daughter to experience. I either wanted her father in her life all the time, or not at all. I wasn't going to cause her any unnecessary hurt.

Lester had stopped at the bottom of the stairs, watching my face run through the emotions of my thoughts. He lifted my face so that we were eye to eye and smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry," he implored. "He loves you."

I frowned, uncertain of this. "How can you know that? He's Ranger, he doesn't let anyone in on his feelings."

"Steph, there's always an exception to the rule."

I stared at him, silently reviewing the common argument regarding that statement. I had heard it so many times from Ranger over the years that I knew it off by heart. _If every rule has an exception, why not include the exception in the rule? Kind sloppy not to, don't you think? And if every rule has an exception, no matter how many times you change the rule to accommodate the exception, there would always be another exception. If so, then there must already __exist__ an unlimited number of exceptions to every rule, which makes rules pointless and futile. However, if your original statement is correct, and there _is_ an exception to every rule, then your rule, about there being an exception to every rule, would also have an exception. This means that some rules do _not_ have exception, which negates your original argument._Needless to say the standard reply to that was a big fat sigh and a shake of the head, but that was beside the point. Lester was trying to tell me that Ranger loved me, so I should hear him out, rather than sit here thinking about a stupid argument.

"What's the exception to the Ranger rule?" I asked, picking up a still sleeping Laura.

"Come on, I'll show you to your room so you can put Laura down for a nap and then we'll talk."

Once I had tucked Laura in, he lead me to the kitchen where he turned on the coffee maker and sat me down on the counter. "Ranger may be a closed lip type of guy, but I've known him my entire life. When he broke his arm when he was ten, I was the one who backed up his cover story. He trusts me. Furthermore, he doesn't need to talk to me for me to know exactly what he's thinking. I've memorised every expressionless expression he's ever made and I know what each one means. He's been moping around ever since you left. Not outwardly, but I know him, ya know?" He paused for moment a thoughtful expression on his face. "I bet you'll be the highlight of the evening."

I gave him a smile and reached out to hug him. "Thank you so much for keeping this secret for so long," I whispered in his ear. "I don't know what I would have done without you."

"It's nothing Bombshell," he said, at the very moment a cry emitted from upstairs.

I sighed, "Waking up in a strange place without Flipsey." He gave me a curious look as I jumped down from the counter. "Her bunny," I explained. "It's probably a good thing she woke up now. She still needs a bath before tonight, and if she slept much longer she'd be up all night." Entering the room, I found my sweet little angel sitting up in the corner of the bed next to the wall. She leaped off the bed as I approached and I caught her, just. Thankfully, Lester was there and wouldn't have let her fall.

"Where's Flipsey?" she accused, glaring at me.

"Sorry, sweetie, we left her in the car." She cuddled into my shoulder and I knew she had forgiven me. It was that simple when they were kids. Say sorry, and give a simple explanation and they're happy. "Why don't we get you a nice bath so you can get clean? How does that sound?"

She lifted her head. "We bring duckie?"

I chuckled. "Of course we did. We can't have a bath without duckie can we?" She shook her head and I carried her downstairs to where our bags had been piled to locate duckie. "Which bag did we put him in?" I asked her, setting her down next to the luggage.

"Bathroom bag!" she exclaimed, climbing over the suitcase that had all our clothes in it, to get to the 'bathroom bag' behind it.

"Careful," Lester warned, a huge grin on his face. "Gee, she's just like you. Jumps in without hesitation."

I nodded, never taking my eyes off the perfect little girl. "We'll need the whole bag, Loza, can you lift it?" Her head popped up from behind one of the taller suitcases, she nodded and bobbed out of sight. "Well, you lift it then, do you need help?" She popped up and nodded again and Lester laughed.

"Uncle Lester!" she told me, by way of saying she wanted him to help her and I held up my hands to say that I wouldn't touch anything.

Lester took two long strides over to the pile of luggage and leaned over to see the little girl hiding in there. "What seems to be the problem?" he asked, as if she were a client.

"It's too heavy, Uncle Lester. And I'm too little. I can't lift it. I told mummy I would, but it's too heavy. Can you help me?"

He was sporting that huge grin again when he replied, "It would be my pleasure. Why don't you grab hold of the bag and I'll lift you?"

There was a rustling sound, and Laura's voice carried over to me, "Like this?"

Lester nodded. "That's perfect. Now, hold on tight." He reached in and picked her up. When she emerged she was hugging the bathroom bag to her body and Lester was hugging them both t his chest. They were both laughing and it made me laugh too.

"Look mummy! I did it!" she exclaimed as Lester dropped her to the ground. She galloped over to me, dragging the bag behind her, the biggest smile imaginable on her face.

"You did!" I congratulated her. "What else do we need for a bath?"

She thought for a moment. "Clean clothes!" she said triumphantly.

"Right! Can I trust you to stay clean if I put you in your party clothes?" She nodded emphatically. "Okay, that makes things a little easier, then I don't have to dress you twice." I looked past her to Lester. "The blue suit bag, could you take that up to the bedroom for us? And that red case at your feet." He gave me an affirmative nod and I lead Laura back upstairs to the bathroom.

I was half way through washing her hair when there was a knock on the bathroom door. "Just a second!" I called, "Laura has soap in her eyes." Of course it was non-eye-stinging shampoo, but it was the principal of the matter.

"I just wanted to let you know that you've been in there for an hour. It's five o'clock, so if you wanna wrap Laura in a towel when she gets out and I'll dry and dress her, then you can go for your shower."

I leaned over and opened the door a smidge. "Have you ever dressed a child before?" I asked him.

He smiled. "No, but I gotta start some time. Besides, I'm sure little Loza would be able to tell me if I'm doing something wrong."

I didn't doubt that. Returning my attention to Laura, I asked her if she was okay with Uncle Lester helping her get dressed. She nodded. Several moments later I had her soap free and wrapped in a towel. I opened the door all the way and shoved her out. "Pull ups are in the green back pack by the stairs," I told him, "The picture goes to the front. The buttons on her dress go to the back and if you could brush her hair that'd be wonderful, the fro comb is in the red case I got you to bring up."

He nodded at each instruction, so I guess he got it all. I mean, he's used to a rapid string of commands right? That's all he ever dealt with. With that reassuring thought I closed the door again and took a shower with my favourite Bubble Gum scented body wash and shampoo and conditioner. When I came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, I heard familiar giggles coming from the bedroom. I entered to find Laura sitting on a stool in front of Lester, who was sitting on the edge of the bed. He had half he hair secured in a cute little piggy tale on the side of her head and was struggling to position the other so that she was symmetrical. I laughed at the sight before me and they both looked up.

"Going like that, are you, Steph?" Lester commented, a familiar twinkle in his eye.

I gave him an 'oh ha' expression and grabbed my lace panties from the suit bag hanging on the closet door. I slipped them on without revealing anything, how talented am I? And went for the bra, it was one of those suction ones that had absolutely no straps what so ever. Shooting a glance at Lester, I turned away and stuffed the bra into the towel, positioning it just so. Wow, I am super talented, huh? When it came to the dress though, I wasn't sure how I'd get that on with Lester in the room. I guess he saw my thought, cause he said, "Well, I'm done. I'll leave you to finish getting ready." He stood and took one last glance at Laura's hair, turning his head to the side and tweaking the left tail before he left.

"He tried to put the dress on upside down," Laura told me, as I removed the towel and slipped on the low backed, midnight-blue, halter dress and secured it around my neck. "He held it upside down and told me to step in!"

"He's a silly boy, isn't he?" I commented, keeping up the conversation, because I knew she would be discouraged if I didn't. "Did you set him right?"

"Yep," she conceded, standing up and coming over to the mirror where I stood putting in my earrings. "Are you gonna paint your face for tonight?" she asked. This meant was I going to where make up.

"Yes. And you," I spun around to face her, "Are going to where this." I held out a fine chain with an angel pendant. Her face lit up like the Eiffel Tower at Christmas time as I secured it around her neck. I then proceeded to secure and identical one around my own neck. She sat beside me as I applied my makeup, all the time admiring her necklace in the mirror.

"We have to go!" Lester called up the stairs, and I was reminded of all those times I'd been with Morelli. "We're gonna be late as it is!"

I smiled. "Isn't that what you wanted?" I called back.

"Yes, but I was aiming for five minutes, not half an hour."

"Relax," I told him, coming out of the bedroom, holding Laura's hand. "We're ready."

Relief washed over his face as he grabbed his keys and head to the door. I grabbed my handbag, making sure I had a book for Laura to read while we were hiding behind the stage. The plan was, he'd sneak us in through the stage door of the hall they had hired for the occasion. Laura and I would wait for the cue, which would be obvious. And then we would make our entrance and surprise the birthday boy. He would be opening his presents on the stage so that everyone could see, and I just hoped that he would be made to wear a funny hat like they did to me when they threw me a birthday party.

_So do you like it so far? Review and let me know. There's more too come if you're good reviewers._


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks so much for the wonderful reviews. It really makes a girl feel loved. Some of you have demanded more, others have simply implied it and others still have shown interest in exactly how I would pull it off... So here it is. It's amazing how much comes to me on long car drives, as soon as I got home I jumped on the computer... not literally. Anyway, enough about that. Enjoy!_

**Chapter 2**

I had read "The little Green Pig" at least three times, and thankfully it was keeping Laura quiet. I didn't want the whole thing to be ruined by her screaming or something. It was six thirty, time to get a little closer to the stage to hear what was going on. As we hid behind the curtain I crouched down so I was at her level, I had a change in the proceedings I needed her to know about.

"When Uncle Lester says, 'Here's your surprise,' or something along that line, we're supposed to go out at the same time," I told her. She nodded, thumb in mouth. "I want you to wait here until I call you okay? I'll go out when Lester calls, and you come out when I call, got it?" Again she nodded.

At that moment Lester's voice came over the microphone, and I motioned for Laura to stay quiet.

"Well, bro. It's that time of year again. You're old." He paused for a moment as the room erupted in applause. "I know some of my presents in the past have been a little... below standard. For example, the balloon filled with ink i gave you when you turned thirteen. But man, I promise, what I've got for you today will make everything right in the world. You're gonna love it, in fact, i believe you already do. So without further ado, I give you your birthday present from me to you."

I took a deep breath, reminded Laura to stay put until I called, fixed my neckline and took those fatal steps out onto the stage, in view of every Rangeman employee and their partners and any other miscellaneous guests that I didn't know about. I stood there, a few feet from the edge, just waiting for him to make a move, it seemed he was glued to the chair however. That wasn't the only part of him that was glued, his eyes were unable to leave me face. I smiled, uncertainly at him. Then entire room had gone silent when I entered and i was feeling rather uncomfortable.

"Dude, if you don't want it, I can take it back," Lester said, breaking the silence.

Ranger cut his eyes to his brother. "Don't even think about it," he seethed.

"Well, do something, man. You're girl is waiting."

"How did you manage this?" Ranger managed through clenched teeth. There was no blank face, he was a picture of anger.

Lester touched his nose. "A magician never reveals his secrets. We'll talk later. Go get your girl."

As Ranger stood and began walking toward me I helped to close the gap. I had expected him to embrace me in a hug instantaneously, but instead he held my face between his palms and stared into my eyes. His own eyes were deep pools of chocolate and it was all I could do not to fall into them. He was searching my face, tracing out familiar paths. "Is it really you, Babe?" he whispered, his eyes never leaving my own.

I smiled up at him and nodded. "In the flesh." My voice was equally quiet, and i was afraid that I was going to burst into tears. Being here in his presence made me realise how much I had missed him over the years.

"Why did you leave?" he asked softly. His lips were mere millimetres from my own.

"We'll get to that in a moment. For now, will you please just kiss me? I'm pretty sure that's what the guys are waiting for."

He gazed around the room, at all the faces staring up at us and grinned. "We better give them what they want then, huh?" And with that he swept his hand behind my head and claimed my lips in the most passion filled kiss I have ever experienced to my knowledge. I was weak kneed and leaning into him when he pulled back several seconds later. The crowd erupted in cheers and whoops, and I felt my cheeks get hot. "Babe," Ranger said, swiping a thumb across my cheeks collecting the tears that had seeped from my eyes unchecked.

"I missed you so much," I whispered.

"Then why did you leave?" he asked, more insistently now.

I motioned for Lester to give me the microphone and wiped my eyes. "I, too, have a surprise for you," I said. I turned toward side stage. "Laura." I called. My little girl came bounding out, pigtails flying, a huge grin on her face that was so similar to Rangers. I hoisted her up onto my hip and kissed her nose.

"Mummy, you've been crying!" she said, placing her little hands on my cheeks. "Are you sad?"

I shook my head and smiled at her. "They're happy tears, sweetie." I raised the microphone again. "Ranger, this is Laura, my... our... daughter." I held my breath for a long moment, trying to gauge his reaction, but he had lowered his blank mask, effectively shutting me out.

"Mummy, I want Uncle Lester," Laura said, squirming in my arms, trying to get down. Silently, I lowered her to the ground and she ran across the stage to where Lester stood.

"Is this why you left, Steph?" Ranger whispered. I nodded, still silent, looking at the floor. "Please look at me Steph. Why didn't you tell me?"

I refused to lift my head, instead wringing the microphone between my hands. "I was afraid," I finally admitted, shrugging. "You'd told me so many times that your life didn't lend itself to relationships, and you were always so adamant. I didn't know what to do at first. Eventually I decided that the best thing to do would be to move away. Away from all the trauma of my life, all the psychos and stalkers, all the things that complicated my life. I didn't want my child to be brought into a world where she was always in danger, especially knowing that her father did want her."

"Babe, how could you even think that I wouldn't want her?" There was hurt in his voice, and I was not only refusing to look at him, I was afraid to. "Stephanie, please look at me." I shook my head, but this time he placed two fingers under my chin and lifted it with ease. "What made you think I wouldn't want her?"

"Julie," I said simply, tears stinging at my eyes. There was no need for further explanation, we both knew what had happened,

"That was years ago, Babe. I was young, reckless; I didn't want to be tied down. None of us were happy with the living situation we had. I was still in the army for chrissake! Believe me, seeing what a wonderful young lady Julie is turning out to be I don't regret my decision to leave. If I hadn't, Rachel never would have met Ron, and Julie never would have felt as loved as she does. Admittedly I do feel bad that I haven't been involved in her life as much as I could have, but Rachel understands, and it's not like Julie doesn't have a father figure. Laura has been living without a father for... Fuck, I'm not even sure how old my own kid is!"

"She's three," I whispered, it was all I could manage past the lump that had formed in my throat.

"Three," he repeated. "And Lester knew?"

I nodded. "And my dad. I wasn't just going to leave and not tell anyone. Lester supported my decision and was simply there for me when I need and shoulder. I knew that on the inside he wanted to tell you, or wanted t urge me to tell you, but I wasn't ready. Then when I finally told him I was ready to tell you, he suggested this." I took a deep breath. "I thought you should know about her at least. Ranger, I don't want anything part time with Laura. You're either in her life permanently or not at all, its up to you. You at least deserved the chance to meet her, and I'm sorry it took me so long to come to that realisation."

I finally met his gaze, hoping I didn't see anger in his expression, or worse, no expression at all. He was looking intently into my eyes again. A small smile played at the corners of his mouth. "You're not getting away from me again. Now, I want to get to know my daughter."

Tears were streaming down my face, I couldn't help it. It had been a very emotional day, from the nerves to the disappointment, to joy, I was emotionally exhausted. Gazing past him, Laura was in the middle of a game of Rock, Paper Scissors with her uncle. Lester looked up and I smiled. He said something to his niece and sent her over. She leapt into my arms and I spun her around in much the same manner as Lester had at the park earlier in the day. She wrapped her little arms around my neck and kissed my nose. "Laura, I'd like you to meet your Daddy."

She nodded at me and extended her hand to Ranger, who took it with a bemused expression on his face. "Nice to meet you Daddy." We all laughed and Ranger pulled us both into a huge bear hug.

Lester slipped the mike from my hand and addressed the hall on a whole. "Isn't that the sweetest thing you've ever seen folks? Lets have a round of applause for the family reunited." On cue the crowd erupted in cheers and applause. When it had died down a little Lester said, "Dinner will be served momentarily in the dining hall if you'd all like to follow through." As everyone moved off Lester came over to us, a grin fit for a clown plastered on his face. "Well, big brother, how does this birthday rate? Better or worse than the year I got you lawn darts?"

Ranger was unable to keep a straight face as he replied, "I don't know, man, those lawn darts were pretty cool." I dead panned him and he laughed. "Of course this is the best birthday I've ever had." With that he pulled me to him for a kiss and I heard gagging sounds coming from Lester and Laura.

"Eww, Mummy, that's yucky!" Laura exclaimed.

"I'm with the kid on this one, save it will you?" Lester griped.

"I'm hungry," Laura told me, changing the subject. And we all headed in to the dining hall.

_You all did such a good job at review last chapter, so keep it up. If you're lucky I'll continue soon._


	3. Chapter Three

_Wow! You guys really like this story, huh? I was sitting here lasy night, trying to type out this chapter and I was interrupted ever couple of minutes by my email account telling me that I've got another review. Don't take that the wrong way though, I love your reviews. So encouraging. Thanks again to those who reviewed. Here's chapter three. Enjoy!_

**Chapter Three**

By eight o'clock Laura was about ready to call it a night. She'd been meeting people left right and centre and had danced with her uncle and father and myself until she was practically asleep on her feet. I took her to the sidelines and we sat for a little bit. I could tell it was a struggle for her to keep her eyes open, so hoisting her up onto my hip, I went in search of Lester.

He was nowhere to be seen, but as I was heading toward the door to see if maybe he had stepped outside for some air I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to find myself eye to eye with Ranger. "What's up?" he asked, a glimmer of concern in his eyes.

"Laura's about ready for bed, but I can't find Lester. I'm staying at his house, and he drove us here."

"I think I saw him head out back with a lady friend," he grinned. "I'll drive you."

"Ranger, I can't ask you to walk out on your own party."

He grinned, and played with one of Laura's curls. "You're not asking me, I'm offering. Furthermore, I'm offering my home to you and Laura." I wasn't sure what to do, I wanted to take him up on the offer, but I wasn't sure of his intentions. It wasn't like in the old days where I could just pick up and spend a night here or there, no worries. I had to think about Laura now. He was watching me intently, probably knowing exactly what was going through my head. "Don't read too much into it, Steph. You need a lift, I'm offering. I'm assuming you don't have a key to Lester's house, so I'm offering my house. Besides, we need to catch up. I have a bed and a couch. Please?"

I took a deep breath and nodded. "We still need to stop by Lester's though. She won't sleep in a strange place without Flipsey and we need pyjamas."

"Anything for you, Babe," he said, planting a kiss on my cheek for what felt like the millionth time this evening. We made it to his car before I realised he didn't have a booster seat. "No problem, Babe," he told me when I mentioned this to him. "It was in Lester's car wasn't it? We'll break into his car and I'll install it in mine."

I smiled faintly, something wasn't all that appealing about breaking into Lester's car, but we needed the booster seat. "I'll wait here." Several minutes later he returned with the booster and stopped awkwardly once he had the door open. "You don't know how to install it do you?" I asked, bemused. He shook his head and I laughed softly, careful not to wake Laura. "You just uninstalled it, but you can't reinstall it, that's brilliant."

He glared half heartedly at me and put the booster on the ground. "It's not like a computer game, all you need for that is a few codes. Here, I'll hold Laura, you put the seat in. You'll have to teach me some time."

I smiled at that, it meant he was planning on staying in my life. It meant he was going to be Laura's Daddy. The idea of being a family was truly a relief. I had half expected him to say thanks for letting me know and then just kind of turn his back on us; it was a thought that had kept me awake many nights lately. I knew I would be sleeping soundly tonight, knowing that all was right in the world.

Half an hour later we were standing in the elevator on our way up to Ranger's apartment. Amazingly, Laura was nestled into Ranger's shoulder, fast asleep. I didn't think she would sleep in his arms, but there's the proof right in front of me. I grinned at the picture they made and had to stifle a laugh when Ranger tried to unlock his door, still holding her. I ended up taking the keys from him and doing the honours. He took her straight into the bedroom and lay her down in the middle of his bed. "If you wanna go rustle up some hot chocolate I'll go through the bed ritual and meet you in the living area," I told him, setting down the overnight bag I had thrown together and pulling out her nightie. He lingered for a while, watching me change her without waking her, a talent that every mother seems to have and no one seems to know how they acquire it.

When she was changed I carried her into the bathroom and set her down so that she was in a standing position leaning against me. "Laura-girl," I cooed, jostling her gentling. "Need to pee?" She gave an affirmative mumble and I pulled down her pull ups and set her on the toilet. She was awake enough to manage wiping her own tush when she was done, but as I carried her back to the bed, she was once again out like a light. I settled her into the middle of the bed and tucked Flipsey the pink bunny under her arm.

Exiting the bedroom, I found Ranger on the couch, shirt undone a few buttons, shoes off, bare feet resting on the coffee table. Not far from his feet sat a nice cup of hot chocolate destined for my stomach. I stepped onto the cushion next to him on the couch and lowered myself into a comfortable cross-legged position and he handed me my hot chocolate. Allowing me a few luxurious sips before he undoubtedly got down to business, his eyes never left my face.

"We need to clear a few things up, Babe," he said after a moment.

I nodded my agreement, my clear blue eyes transfixed on his chocolate brown ones. "Why I left? Why I didn't tell you? Why I didn't try to reconnect sooner? Why I told Lester and not you?" He stopped me before my tongue could run away with itself.

"All of those in time, Babe. First I need to know if you still love me." His expression had grown serious, a very disconcerting factor for this topic of conversation.

"Of course I still love you, Ranger; I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't."

"I just wanted to make sure you weren't confusing love for your daughter and wanting to do anything that would make her life normal, with love for me. It's a common mistake for single mothers to make, and they wind up in an unhappy relationship for ten or so years just for their child's sake."

There were tears stinging at my eyes at the very thought that he doubted my intentions, hadn't he admitted that he wanted to be a part of Laura's life? Hadn't I made it clear to him that it was full time or nothing? What was he trying to do? "Ranger, from the moment you entered that coffee shop all those years ago, I fell in love with you, it just took a while for me to realise. Then when I realised I was pregnant, I panicked. I didn't want to ruin the relationship we had, and despite everything you said it was a relationship. I knew you life had no room for an infant, so I left."

"We could have made room, Babe. If you'd just told me, we could have worked something out. Why did you tell Lester?"

I gave a half laugh. "Your rules," I replied. When he gazed at me curiously I explained, "You always told me to tell one of the men if I was going anywhere, for security reasons, ya know?"

"So the one time you follow my rules, its so you can run out of my life and have a baby, and you make him promise not to tell me?"

I nodded silently. "Knowing what I know now, if I could turn back time, I'd do it differently, but I can't. I could have very easily excluded you from Laura's life completely, but I felt you needed to know. You had the right to know."

"I realise that I told you some pretty stupid things over the years, the no relationship thing especially, but I still wish that you would have told me when you found out instead of just packing up and leaving. Do you have any idea how much I worried that you were dead, lying maimed in a dumpster somewhere?"

My voice was thick with emotion. "Actually, I do. Lester kept me very well informed. And I didn't just up and leave. I battled with myself for two months before I finally decided to leave, and it was the single hardest decision of my life."

He chuckled and said lightly, "It must have been hard then, I've seen how hard it is for you to decide on what type of TastyKake you want." I gave him a burg glare, but was thankful for the humour. It made me feel that everything was alright. "I'm glad you're back, Babe, and I meant what I said earlier, you're not getting away from me again. You're staying right here where I can look after you and our daughter."He me pulled into a searing kiss, and this time there was no peanut gallery to comment on. When he let me go a little I yawned wide. "Am I that boring?" he chuckled.

"Sorry," I said on another yawn. "It's been a very emotionally racking day. I'm gonna head to bed." I was half way to the bedroom when I turned back to him. "Where are you going to sleep?" I asked.

He smiled all two hundred watts at me. "There's a perfectly good couch out here. Don't you worry."

I accepted that. I don't expect things would have gone too well if Laura were to wake up to find a strange man in the same bed as her, whether it was her father or not. I quickly changed into my own nightie and slipped into bed beside my little angel. My last thought before sleep washed over me was that everything was going to be alright.

_Since you're all doing such a wonderful job reviewing, I'd like you to keep it up. :) Good things come to good reviewers._


	4. Chapter 4

_Once again I'd like to thank all those who reviewed my last chapter. Today, however, I'd like to give a big shout out to LadyWarrior, who's kind words brightened my entire life. This chapter is dedicated to my Mum, maybe she'll find the zoom on the camera so that I'm not constantly looking at photos of ants. So here it is, the next instalment. I hope you enjoy reading it as much I had nutting it out. (It took me three sticks of gum!)_

Chapter 4 

There was a flash beyond my eyelids, followed by a familiar giggle. I groaned and cuddled further into the soft object in my arms. There was another flash and another giggle, and I was compelled to open my eyes to see what was going on. My sight first identified the soft object as Flipsey the bunny. Pushing it away a little my gaze found Laura sitting on the bed not far away. She was beaming at me, so I smiled back. At that very moment, yet another flash filled the room, and Laura giggled. I sat up a little and found the source of the blinding light. Ranger stood at the foot of the bed, camera in hand, grinning at me.

"What are you doing?" I grumbled.

"Documenting my first morning with the knowledge that I'm a father," he replied, snapping off another photo.

"You were already a father," I logicised, yes that was my wonderful morning language coming through.

"I know, but this feels different. I don't want to forget this morning ever. Smile."

The blinding flash stung my eyes once more and I turned my attention to Laura. "How long have you been up?" I asked her.

She shrugged a little. "I woked up when Daddy flushed the toilet. He don't know that he's sposed to wait until everyone's awake before you make noise."

"When was that?" I asked Ranger.

A little sheepish that he was being dobbed on by a three year old he mumbled, "Around five."

"What time is it now?" I asked, almost afraid of the answer. If he said any time before seven o'clock I was going to... okay, I don't know what I was going to do, but it wasn't gonna be nice.

"It's almost seven, Babe. We've had cereal, are you hungry?"

As always, as if on cue, my stomach growled and we all laughed. I ate a bowl of cereal while Laura coloured in the floor next to me. Ranger was watching both of us intently, snapping of a photograph here and there. When I was finished I rinsed my bowl and decided it was shower time. "Come on Loza, time to get clean," I told her, tickling her ribs through the nightie she wore. As she ran toward the bedroom to get our clothes I turned to Ranger and gave him a light peck on the nose. "If that camera comes anywhere near the bathroom, you're gonna _really_ regret it." He nodded his understanding and I left him there.

Laura and I showered together; not an uncommon occurrence. It took less time than bathing her separately and it used less water. When we stepped out, I wrapped a towel around myself while I dried and dressed her, then sent her out with a brush to attempt to tame her own hair. I looked at myself in the mirror, and there was something different about what I saw, I just couldn't put my finger on it. I had the feeling it was somewhere around my eyes. As I emerged from the bathroom several minutes later I could just make out a whispered conversation coming from the living room. Not wanting to disturb, I stood just out of sight, next to the doorway and listened closely.

"I bet you I can," came Ranger's low voice.

"No, you can't," Laura's quietly defiant voice drifted to me. "Only Mummy can do it."

"Can I try?" Ranger asked.

"Nope," Laura replied, and I pictured her shaking her head from side to side.

"What if I... TICKLE YOU!" The last three words were exclaimed at the same moment a bout of high pitched giggles emitted from the little girl. I smiled. This wasn't Ranger, this was Ricardo, the father.

I took my opportunity to step into view, hands on hips. "Are you having fun without me?" I accused lightly. They both stopped what they were doing to look at me, and shook their heads adamantly. "You know what I'd have to do if you were, don't you?" I asked. Again, they shook their heads and I launched myself on them. "I'd have to TICKLE YOU!" Laura squealed in delight, and Ranger was actually laughing, this was the best feeling in the world. Just then another flash clouded my vision, followed by Laura's giggle.

We all turned around to find Tank standing in the doorway with Ranger's camera. "Sorry, guys, couldn't miss the opportunity. Ranger, can I talk to you a moment?"

Ranger immediately sobered and got up off the floor, following Tank into the kitchen. What I could here of their conversation sounded serious. I didn't want think about that, so I turn my attention to Laura. "Have you brushed you hair?" I asked her. She nodded and handed me the brush. "Do you want me to check it for knots and tie it back for you?" Again she nodded. As I secured her hair I enquired as to what they had been talking about before Ranger tickled her.

"He wanted to brush my hair. And I said he can't and he said he could and i said he couldn't and he said he could..."

I let her go on like this for a while before I interrupted. "Why can't he brush your hair?" I asked.

Having finished with her hair, she turned to face me, her brow furrowed. "I don't know him, Mummy. What if he cut it all off instead of brushing it?"

I laughed softly. "Honey, he wouldn't do that; he's your Daddy."

Her brow furrowed a little more with confusion. "What's a Daddy?" she asked.

Oh crap, this wasn't gonna be an easy fix. I was gonna have to answer this very carefully. Think, Stephanie, think. What's the simplest way to explain to a child? Example! Right. "You know how Jenny has a Mummy and a Daddy, and they both take care of her?" I asked. Jenny was a girl from her play group that she was friends with. She nodded thoughtfully. "Well, now you have a Daddy too, he's going to look after you as well."

"Why?" she asked.

See? Didn't I tell you? Not an easy fix. "Because you deserve two parents like everyone else. I don't want you to be disadvantaged."

She thought about this for a moment. "What's disadvantaged? And does everyone have two parents?"

I sighed. "Disadvantaged, is when you don't have the same opportunities as everyone else. Does that make sense?" She gave a short nod. "Everyone has two parents because it takes a Mommy and a Daddy to make a beautiful kid like you."

"Why didn't I have a Daddy before?"

Is there no end to the questioning mind of a child? Of course not, the only way you learn is to ask questions. "You didn't have a Daddy before..." I began, thinking hard and quick. "because Mummy ran away from Daddy before you were born. I was afraid of how he would react."

"Daddy scared you?" she enquired.

"No, honey, he was just, really busy and wouldn't have had time for us." There were little frown lines on her forehead. "Don't worry, Sweetie, he has nothing but time for us now. And he's never going to leave us."

She seemed to accept this, thankfully, because I wasn't sure how many more answers I would be able to give her. "We got blocks?" she asked after a moment.

I let out a breath of relief that she had finally changed the subject. "Sorry, Loz, your blocks are over at Uncle Lester's house. Why don't you look at one of the picture books we brought over." Once she was settled on the bed looking at the book I took the brush into the bathroom and pinned my hair back. When I came back she was nestled into the pillows with Flipsey on her lap, pretending to read to him. I smiled and made my way out to the kitchen to see what was going on.

Tank abruptly stopped talking when I entered the room. I was pretty sure I could guess the topic of conversation. Rolling my eyes in a very Burg fashion, "What's up?"I asked.

Tank looked to Ranger who sighed. "For a start, yes we were talking about you, but that's not really important, I can guarantee it was all good. There's a situation that I need to attend to down in control."

"That's fine. I'm sure I can manage without you for a while," I said.

"The guys really wanna see you, Bombshell. And they're dying to meet Laura, why don't you round up the squirt and come for a visit?" Tank suggested.

I looked to Ranger. "Are you sure we wouldn't be disturbing the men? I mean, surely they better things to do than watch a kid?"

Ranger pulled me close to him, and laid his forehead on mine. "Listen to me Babe, I don't want to lose sight of you yet. I just got you back." And he claimed my lips in a passion filled kiss that shot straight to dormant parts of my body that i had almost forgotten even exist. Almost, not quite, and Ranger was doing a good job of reminding me of their existence right now. I opened my mouth and he slipped his tongue inside. At that point Tank excused himself muttering something about the control room.

When Ranger slipped his fingers under the waistband of my denim skirt I pushed him away a bit. "Ranger," I said, slightly breathless, "Our daughter is in the next room, I think we should take it down a notch or three." He retracted his hands, lacing them behind his head, and nodding his understanding. "I'm sorry. It's just, she's had me to herself her entire life, so suddenly having you in her life might mess with her a bit. She didn't want you to brush her hair this morning because she doesn't know you. We just need to take things slow. She'll warm up to you in her own time."

He nodded again and kissed my ear. "I understand, Babe, its just hard to keep my hands off you. I need to keep reassuring myself that you're real. That you're not some figment of my imagination."

I took his words in with a nod of my own. "I'll go get Laura and we can all go downstairs."

_You know how much I love to hear from you all, so don't disappoint me. Let me know what you think so far._


	5. Chapter Five

_I had a request for longer chapters, which I don't often like writing, but despite my efforts, this chapter is much longer than usual, I hope your happy. Fake grumpy face. I supposed this is what RangerBabeFan would refer to as my monkey wrench chapter. You all knew it was coming, so here it is; I'm officially throwing a spanner in the works. Enjoy!_

**Chapter Five**

As the elevator doors sprang open my eyes were met with a huge banner that read, "Welcome home Bomber!" I was frozen in to the spot. I wasn't sure my legs were even still attached to my body. Ranger was out of the elevator and looking back at me. Laura was half way between eyes moving rapidly between Ranger and myself. Just then there was a shout from the control room. "LOZA!" It was Lester, sitting at the control desk.

"Uncle Lester!!" Laura squealed. She ran a few steps toward him then stopped abruptly and turned back to me. "Mummy? You coming?" There was a familiar glint of concern in her eyes.

I shot her a smile of reassurance and took the three steps necessary to exit the elevator. Laura hurried ahead to her uncle as I stood stock still just inside the room. There were eyes glued to me and the only sounds in the room were the voices of Laura and Lester. "Babe?" Ranger uttered. "You okay?"

I nodded slowly and the room erupted in cheers and whoops. It brought back memories of the previous night. The apprehension I felt just seconds before walking out on that stage and how it stayed there until he finally said the words that made y heart leap out of my chest. _"I want to get to know my daughter."_ In that moment I felt that I could have died a happy woman, but knew that my death would devastated a whole world of people. Everything seemed so much less complicated since that moment. And it wasn't even that things were complicated before that moment, it's just, everything seemed to fall into place almost. And now, standing amongst the racket they were making all those feelings flooded my body and mind once again and I felt a tear slide down my cheek.

All at once I'm enveloped by a pair of strong arms. I lowered my head to his shoulder and let the tears come, my whole body shaking with the sobs. I felt like a complete retard, crying like this over such a simple gesture of love, but I couldn't help it. Anyone would have thought my best friend had just died. I hadn't felt this loved since... the day I left. _Why on earth did I leave?_ _Was it so bad to feel loved?_

"Babe, what's wrong?" Ranger whispered in my ear and I realised that the entire room had gone silent once more.

I sniffed loudly and wiped my eyes, and giving him a smile I said, "It's good to be home."

His sturdy, calloused hands cup the soft skin of my cheeks and we simply stare into each other's eyes for a long moment until Laura ran over and started tugging on Ranger's pants leg. We both laughed and Ranger picked her up. "What can I do for you, young lady?" he asked her.

"You's making Mummy cry again," she told him, looking steadily in his eyes. Her expression was a mixture of stern and worry. "I doesn't like it when Mummy cries, so you better clean up your act."

I laughed at this and played with a curl that had fallen across her face. "They're happy tears, baby. I'm crying because I'm so happy to be home."

She pursed her lips angrily in my direction and said, "I'm not a baby, I'm three now!"

I pulled her from her new found father's arms and into my own. "I know, Honey, I'm sorry, but you'll always be my baby, even when you're thirty."

Laura gave me look that I had never seen on her face before; it was exasperation, "That's a long way away, Mummy." Then her face softened into one of thought and she cut her eyes to Ranger. "Is Daddy gonna stay that long?"

One of Ranger's arms snaked around my waist and the other hand came up to caress Laura's face. "Listen you two, and listen good. Don't either of you ever doubt that I will always be here. I've finally found you and I'm not gonna let you go." At that moment there was a surge of movement all around us and we were surrounded by a tangle of loving arms. It was just like one big family, the kind that loves you no matter how much of a screw up you are. The tears started falling again as I seriously considered why I left. The love was unconditional, they would have take care of me no matter what. All it had taken was one moment of doubt and I had thrown in the towel, given up hope on all of them.

After several moments in the middle of the mass hug Ranger cleared his voice. "That work isn't going to do itself is it?" They all mumbled and shuffled off to their various work stations and I noticed that Laura had hidden her face on Ranger's shoulder and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Wanna see Daddy's office?" he asked her softly. Slowly she lifted her head, nodding, and I transferred her to Ranger's arms. He gave me a soft kiss on the lips before carrying her in the direction of his office.

"_No more dwelling on the past," _I told myself. _"From now on all that matters is the here and now."_ With those steady words repeating in my head I went to greet some of the men. It was surprising how little had changed around here. I suppose my thought was, I've changed so everything else must have changed as well, like most thoughts I had though, it was wrong.

"So what have you been doing?" Bobby asked me, dunking a carrot stick in his coffee and biting it.

I grimaced at the nasty habit, but answered his question none the less. "Parenting mostly. I had a secretary gig three days a week at the local medical centre. But I quit a week ago to come back here. I'm not sure what I would've done if things didn't work out last night, get a job at the button factory I suppose, and find a little apartment for the two of us and live out life."

Bobby grinned. "There was no way he wasn't going to take you back, he loves you too much. And seeing that cute little kid of yours was just the icing on the cake. It's just what he needs."

I paused at his comment, confused. "What do you mean, just what he needs? What's wrong?"

Bobby's eyes widened into the typical, 'Oh crap I overstepped the line' expression and he did a good impression of a gold fish for several moments. "Shit, Bombshell, I wasn't supposed to say anything. Just forget it, okay? Shit!" He turned back to his computer and I guessed the conversation was over, but I am Stephanie Plum, conversations don't end with the other party turning away from me.

"Bobby, you have to tell me what's going on," I implored, hoping my old charm still worked on him.

His shoulders slumped toward the keyboard and he shook his head. "It's complicated, Bombshell, and I really shouldn't have even mentioned anything in the vicinity of it."

"But you did, Bobby, so please explain!"

Slowly, and with much reluctance he turned back to face me. Taking my hands in his he began to talk. "His foot has been falling asleep lately." I shook my head with confusion but he motioned for me to shut up and listen. "It's been falling asleep a fair bit lately. A couple of weeks ago it fell asleep while he was driving. He almost caused a three car prang in the middle of town. Sometimes he has trouble with his fingers." I went to protest that it perfectly natural to have clumsy days, but again he cut me off. "Just listen, please. I know it doesn't seem like much to you, but you know I have a medical background, so just hear me out. The symptoms I have observed point toward Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. ALS. I convinced him to see a specialist last week and they want to do more tests, they've scheduled them for next week. We know for certain whether he has it for at least another month."

"What's Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis?" I finally got out.

"It's also known as Lou Gehrig disease, after that famous Baseball player died of it. It's a progressive disorder that effects the part of the nervous system that controls voluntary movement. The muscles become progressively weaker, eventuating in paralysis and death."

I was shocked. How could he be telling me this? Ranger couldn't possibly be dying! He's Batman for chissake! Batman doesn't die... does he? I should have paid closer attention to my comic books in college. "Are you telling me that Ranger is dying?" I whispered hoarsely, barely squeezing the words past the lump that had formed in my throat.

He shook his head gently, squeezing my hands. "I'm telling you that we're trying to get to the bottom of it. Nothing is definite," he pressed a kiss to the back of each hand. "Don't mention anything to him, Steph. He's denying the entire thing. I'm the only one who knows. He'll tell you eventually."

"What kind of tests are they?" I asked ignoring his pleading. My curiosity was about on par with my fear at the moment, I had to know, but I really didn't want to.

"They'll be doing what's called needle electromyography, its the most efficient in confirming ALS. Effectively they're going to be sticking rods of metal into his muscles to measure their electrical activity. He'll be asked to contract his muscles by moving a small bit. Small electrodes will be taped to his skin or placed around his finger. There may be tingling and small shocks, which can typically be unpleasant. He knows all this, and isn't happy about it, but we have to make sure. Please promise me that you'll let him tell you all this when he's ready and not press him. You returning has been a real boost in his mood, I just don't want to see him all moody unnecessarily."

I gave a small nod and stole one of his carrot sticks, dunking it in his coffee. I bit a small bit off, braced for disgust, but it never came. It wasn't half bad. The surprise registered on my face and Bobby laughed at me. "This is actually quite good!" I exclaimed through another mouthful of coffee carrot.

Tank, passing by, chuckled and shook his head. "Converted her to you evil ways, Bobby?"

"You should try it!" I told him, holding out another carrot. "It's actually nice!"

Shaking his head again he said, "I'll leave you weirdos to it."

He left and we both fell about laughing. "He's just not adventurous," Bobby said. "Anybody knows that you have to at least try something before you write it off completely."

"Babe!" came a voice from behind me. "Tell me you didn't!" He was standing a few feet away, holding Laura's hand. She had streaks of black across her cheeks like war paint, I had a feeling it was boot polish, but she was happy, that's all that mattered.

"All these closed minded people!" Bobby muttered returning to his work as I slipped off his desk to greet them.

"Tell that's going to come off her face," I beseeched.

He laughed. "It's just boot polish, Babe. She found a photo of me and Les back in our army days with boot polish on our faces and wanted some on her face."

"Did you have fun with Daddy?" I asked, crouching down so I was at her level.

"He has the smallest computer I've ever seen on his desk and his face paint smells funny." Her eyes were bright as she filled me in on what she got up to in Ranger's office. "He painted my face, guess what I am."

I made a thoughtful face for a moment before exclaiming, "I know! You're a butterfly!"

She giggled. "No, Mummy you're silly! I'm an army."

I slapped my head, the general gesture for 'Of course!'

"I see it now!" I agreed. "What else did you do?"

Laura shrugged her little shoulders and held out her arms for me to pick her up. I didn't usually consent when she asked me, but this was one of the rare occasions where I felt like picking her up anyway. Once she was sitting on my hip she asked, "Can we live with Daddy? He asked me if I wanted to, but I told him I had to ask you first."

The question took me completely by surprise and I almost dropped her as my arms relaxed. Ranger caught her back and I got my hold back, all the time staring into those great pools of chocolate that were his eyes. He nodded slowly, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. Instead of answering straight away I moved my gaze to my daughter. "Do you want to live with Daddy?"

She looked at me critically for a moment. "We're sposed to, Mummy. Jenny lives with her Daddy."

"That doesn't mean we have to, Loz. We don't have to live with Daddy if you don't want to." It was important that she knew that I wasn't going to do anything she didn't want concerning her, something I would have loved for my mother to have done with me rather than her just enrolling me in gymnastics without consulting me.

It was clear that the wheels were turning in that pretty little head of hers. Her face was screwed up in concentration and her eyes her shut. After a moment her eyes popped open suddenly and she told me seriously, "I think it will be good to live with Daddy."

"Well then it's settled," I told them, "We're gonna live with Daddy." Ranger pulled us into big group hug and this time it was just us, the Merry Men stayed at their work stations. There was, however a collective "Aww," from the cubicles around us.

"You should be working!" Ranger called, laughter in his voice.

"I suppose we should go get our stuff," I speculated.

"All taken care of," Ranger informed me. "At this very moment your bags should be arriving upstairs." He was grinning, obviously pleased with himself.

"What about my –?"

"Car? Down in the lot. Now what do you say we go upstairs for lunch?" This time it was not just my own stomach that growled at the mention of food. Laura's stomach emitted a rumble at the same time as mine and Ranger laughed at us. "Well there's no doubting she's yours," he commented ushering us toward the elevator once more.

As we stepped into the foyer on the seventh floor Ella was just coming out of the apartment. "Stephanie!" she greeted. "A little bird told me you were back. I'm so glad; I've been wanting to try out a recipe I found for triple choc brownies. I would have done so already if it wasn't such a waste for me to be the only one eating them." She shot a look at Ranger and we both laughed.

"I would have tried them!" Ranger said defensively, drawing an eye roll from Ella.

"This is Laura," I said, indicating to the arms that could be seen wrapped around my leg. "I guess she's decided she's shy all of a sudden."

"I understand," Ella whispered. Crouching down she spoke in a soft, gentle voice. "Hello Laura, I'm Ella. Do you like brownies?" Laura's head peaked around the side of my leg and she nodded. "I'll make you some if you like." She nodded a little more ecstatically and Ella grinned. "I'll bring some up this evening so you can have one after dinner if your Mummy and Daddy say so. How does that sound?"

Laura, regaining her courage spontaneously, jumped out from behind me and hugged Ella. "Thank you!" she exclaimed.

"That's alright, cutie. I'll let you go eat your lunch now. Be a good girl." And she got into the elevator Ranger was holding open for her. As the doors closed she gave us a big wink.

Laura skipped ahead of us into the kitchen and Ranger stopped me for a brief kiss in the entrance way. "Thank you, Babe."

_Remember: Reviews are what make the story happen, so don't forget to submit one. The future depends on it!_


	6. Chapter 6

_I have come to the realisation that a fair few (if not all) of you, do not wish for me to kill Ranger off. I'll try really hard to make this a happily ever after for all our sakes, I'm not sure I could ever actually have Ranger die, especially in such a helpless way as is associated with ALS. Here's some more for your eyes to gaze upon. Enjoy!_

**Chapter 6**

After lunch I washed Laura's face and she lay down for a nap on Ranger's bed. I settled down on the couch to watch a DVD and Ranger slid onto the cushion beside me. Before the opening credits were over he had his hand inching up my thigh and he had moved ever so slightly closer to me. I resisted the urge to smack his hand away, it felt too good, what I did do was turn so my back was leaning against him and my feet were over the side of the other end of the couch. He took the hint and stopped his creeping, instead wrapping his arm around my middle. I relaxed into him and just as the main feature was starting I realised that it was a Thursday.

"Ranger," I said, leaning my head back so I could see his face. He looked down at me. "Shouldn't you be working?"

He smiled and kissed me. "I'm taking a personal day. Don't worry, I'm sure the boss won't mind." He chuckled at his own joke, which was rather refreshing in an obnoxious kind of way. With that he returned his attention to the TV screen. I however kept my eyes on his face. After about twenty minutes a grin broke onto his face and he looked back down at me. "Are you gonna watch the movie or sit there staring love struck at me?"

I took a moment to feign thought then replied, "Stare love struck."

He shook his head. "If you leave you face there much longer I may have to kiss you."

I gave him my best rendition of a wolf grin. "Maybe that's what I want."

Without another word his hand came up behind my head, lifting it a little toward his face and his lips came crashing down on me. His hand was roaming upward over my belly toward my boob and I shuffled myself onto his lap so I was more comfortable. He groaned into my mouth as I brushed his zipper accidentally in the move and I grinned evilly. I was pretty sure he knew this was as far as it was going while Laura was in the apartment, but just in case I didn't dissolve too far into a gooey mess that I couldn't stop him if he tried. "Relax, Babe," he whispered against the shell of my ear. "I'm keeping it PG-13."

I let out a soft laugh. "That's all well and good, but Laura's three, not thirteen. I hope you have you hearing in tune to small footsteps because I'm not sure she's ready to find her mother making out with her new found father on the couch while she's been having a nap."

"Right-o," he uttered as he continued to lave my neck. All of a sudden several seconds later the kiss was abruptly cut off as he dumped me on the couch next to him. "Three," he whispered in my ear, "Two. One."

"Mummy, I had a bad dream."

I turned to see her little fist rubbing at her eye like she used to when she was a baby. "Come here and tell Mummy all about it." She toddled around the side of the couch and climbed up on my lap, sitting sideways so she could still see Ranger. "What was your dream about?" I asked.

"Daddy went away and you was sad and he never came back."

I squeezed her shoulders to my chest briefly. "Look at me, honey. Daddy isn't going to leave ever, he's with us forever, no matter what happens." As I said the words I remembered what Bobby had told me just a few hours earlier, he could be dying. I managed to keep the fear from my voice at I addressed him, "Isn't that right, Daddy?"

He nodded a leaned over to stroke a finger down Laura's cheek. "I'm yours and there's no givesies-backsies," he said placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

"I was ascared," she told him plaintively and launched herself at him in a hug. "Don't leave. You makes Mummy happy. And that makes me happy."

"I could never leave, Sweetcheeks. I love you both too much." He squeezed her tighter and I couldn't help it any more. I started crying. The tears were streaming down my face unchecked. And I was sobbing; oh god was I sobbing.

"You also makes Mummy cry alot," Laura told him, "But this is good crying. She's happy. She's never been so happy she cried before. You did it."

Ranger was laughing, whether at me or the cute little girl in his arms I had no idea, but he was laughing. "It's not funny," I coughed out, wiping my eyes on the hem of my t-shirt.

He leaned over and they both wrapped their arms around me. "I know it's not funny, Babe, it's absolutely devastating that you're so happy," he had stopped laughing full on, but there was a strain quality to his voice that suggested he was having trouble controlling it.

I punched him in the chest and grabbed Laura around the waist, tickling her lightly in the process. "Give me back my kid," I demanded jokily.

"Our kid," Ranger corrected me quietly, also tickling Laura. She was laughing so hard she collapsed across both our laps, squirming, trying to get away. Her feet were moving wildly at Rangers end and her head was rolling this way and that at mine, arms flapping away in between. Suddenly though Ranger stopped moving, his eyes bugged out and he cross his hands over his zipper. I stopped tickling immediately and pulled Laura onto my lap.

Trying to keep the laughter out my voice I enquired, "Are you alright." He groaned in reply and closed his eyes, rocking back and forward slightly. "Laura, I think you hurt Daddy. What do you say?"

"Sorry Daddy. Do you want me to kiss it better?"

His eyes snapped open suddenly and he sought out my own gaze, which was quite a feat because I was laughing hysterically now, silently asking what he should do. "How about you just kiss his cheek instead," I suggested in a choked voice a few minutes late.

She did as I suggested and hopped to the floor where she began jumping up and down. Ranger, seeming to have recovered a bit from his near death experience a few minute before hand said, "What's wrong? Do you need to go the bathroom?"

I covered my face with my hands, I knew what was going to come out of her mouth the moment she started bouncing. "I want to run!" she exclaimed.

"Run?" he asked as I came out of hiding.

"She has energy that she needs to burn," I explained. "Hence she wants to run." Standing myself, I told her, "Let's go find a park and let you loose."

I grabbed my bag from the side table where I had left it the night before as we entered and went digging for my keys. Typically, they were right at the bottom and by the time I found them Ranger and Laura already had shoes on and were out the door. Ranger was holding the elevator for me, jangling his own keys, so I shoved my feet into a pair of flip flops and hurried in.

When we arrived at a nearby park not five minutes later Laura was straining against her seatbelt frantically, trying to get out. Ranger let her out and she came bounding around the car to me. "Where, Mummy? Show me where to run!"

I quickly surveyed the park, there was play equipment at one end, a bit of a mini field in the middle, a toilet block at the other end with a few trees scattered around the edges. "Right, I want you to go around the sand box twice, under the rope lattice, up the ladder and down the slide, run over and touch the door of the girl's toilet and go around each tree you pass three times on your way back to that bench over there."

She set off at a run and did exactly what I had just said, not leaving out a single detail, as Ranger and I made our way over to the bench to wait for her. As he watched her in amazement he asked, "How often does she get this urge?"

"Between two and four times a week," I estimated. "Sometimes she gets them in the middle of the night so I'd have to turn on the yard lights and make up a course for her to do there, usually it ended with her running into her room and going back to sleep."

"And she just keeps getting you to make up courses until she's pooped?"

I nodded. "Some days it can take anywhere up to an hour."

"That's phenomenal. Does she ever forget the course you've mapped out half way through?"

"Never," I told him. She was already rounding trees as I said it.

"She's fast," he observed, as she came toward us full pelt from the last tree.

"What next?" she asked, not even out of breath.

I looked at Ranger to catch a wide eyes look. "Why doesn't Daddy do one?" I suggested. Laura nodded excitedly and waited for Ranger to explain his course.

He studied the area carefully, calculating everything. After a long moment he began to run through the details, "Up the rope lattice and down the other side, hop on one leg to the beginning of the balance beam, jump over it back and forth until you reach the other end, then roll under the slide. Do ten jumping jacks and run to that big tree over near the fence line. Round it twice and skip back here."

She nodded with each instruction and the moment he was through she jetted off, leaving us behind in a cloud o dust, almost.

"She certainly didn't get this from me," I remarked as we watched her climb the rope lattice.

"I figured as much," Ranger smirked, "I remember how hard it was for me to convince you to come running with me."

"You wanted me to get up in the middle of the night!" I said defensively, watching Laura carefully slide over the top of the lattice frame and start descending on the other side.

"It was five in the morning," he corrected, "The sun rises then, why shouldn't we?"

"Because I like to sleep more than the sun does apparently." He chuckled lightly at my comment, but neither of our eyes left the little girl jumping over the balance beam again and again. "That's practically an army course you set for her," I commented as Laura did her jumping jacks.

"I know. And she doing quite well considering the difficulty of it."

As she skipped back to us I noticed she was slowing down. Her skips her becoming less fluid and her little cheeks were slightly pinked. "Wow! Daddy's good at this, Mummy. Can we watch the clouds now?" Without waiting for an answer she walked over to middle of the field area and flopped down on the grass. I followed suit and when I arrived at her sprawled form looked back at Ranger, still sitting on the bench. I motioned for him to come join us, but he shook his head, so I put my hands on my hips and cocked my head to the side. He chuckled but still shook his head.

"Suit yourself!" I called to him, "But you're missing out on a good time!"

I settled myself down next to my daughter and we began to point out the different shaped clouds to each other. We saw a horse, a dragon and a flower. Eventually Ranger came a lay down on Laura's other side.

A few days passed and I had almost completely driven Bobby's news from my mind. Laura was quickly warming up the the thought of Ranger being constantly in her life, and I was contemplating the drapes. Okay, to be more accurate I was contemplating the entire apartment. Sometimes my thoughts stuck to redevorating, but others, like today for instance, it was the entire living arrangement. There just wasn't enough room for three people, even if one of them was a very little people. I had come to this conclusion at three o'clock this morning when Ranger had slid into bed beside me.

"What are you doing here?" I mumbled drowsily.

"The couch starts to get uncomfortable after the second night," he whispered, cuddling up to my back as I cuddle a sleeping Laura. "Go back to sleep."

I didn't have the energy to protest at the time, so I just allowed myself to nod back off. When I awoke four hours later, however, with an arm across my stomach and a face in my ribs on one side and a heavy leg over my thigh from the other, I was seriously considering the concept of house hunting.

Ranger was snoring contentedly on my right while Laura's nose whistled with each exhalation on my left. I was trapped underneath the both of them desperate for the bathroom. Laura, I could gently manoeuvre myself out from under, but Ranger's leg had me pinned. I poked his shoulder, careful not to disturb the sleeping child.

"Babe?" he mumbled, his voice thick with sleep.

"Ranger, I need to pee," I whispered.

"Right-o, don't let me stop you. You know where the toilet is."

He began to settle back down in the pillow so I jabbed him again. "I can't get up, Ranger, you have you leg pinning me to the mattress."

A sloppy grin passed over his face. "I've got you right where I want you." He was waking up a bit now and actually leaned over and press a kiss to my lips. I knew the moment he was fully awake, because he collapsed back to the bed muttering, "Laura."

"Ranger, your leg!" I exclaimed quietly.

"Oh right!" he uttered, quickly rolling off the bed so that I could answer nature's call. I heeded my own rule and did not flush the toilet, knowing that the moment I did Laura would be awake instantly. Ranger, the angel he is, had the coffee o when I entered the kitchen mere moments later.

"We need to talk," he said, indicating the seat across from him at the breakfast nook. My heart was pounding as I took the seat, _ohcrapohcrapohcrap._ "You know I love having the both of you here?" he began. I nodded, my heart sinking just a little at the knowledge that it wasn't what I thought it would be. I knew his appointment was in a couple of days, so, theoretically he had to tell me soon. "Well, I'm not sure this is the best place for us."

"There's not enough room," I agreed, a hint of sadness in my voice that I wasn't able to keep out.

"Hey," he said, reaching out and covering my hands with his own. "We're in this together. Where ever you are I'll be. I'm just trying to say we should start looking for a house."

"I know, Ranger," I said, trying to cover my tracks. "You just scared me, that's all. Things were starting to get good and I was afraid you were going to pull away. I had this feeling, kind of like the morning after, when you sent me back to Morelli."

"Babe, what have I told you about this doubt thing you have going. You don't have to worry anymore. I'm here. Stuck on you like glue. Just try to get rid of me." I had no answer for that. Well, I did, but the answer I had had something to do with the fact that he could possibly be dying, and I promised Bobby I would wait for him to bring it up, so instead I nodded and took another sip of my coffee. I couldn't meet his eyes at that moment, if I looked into those melted chocolate pools I knew I would just blurt the entire thing out. "Babe, you don't look convinced."

I shrugged, staring into the steaming brown liquid that swirled around in my cup. "I guess the lack of space is just getting to me."

"Why don't we start hunting today? I'm sure Ella wouldn't mind babysitting, we could have some us time."

Finally, I raised my eyes from the mesmerising liquid. "That'd be nice, but I have to talk to Laura before I make a decision." He sighed, and I knew why. Everything I did had to be okayed by the three year old, and if she didn't want me to, I usually didn't. I never realised it before, but I've handed the reigns of my life to my daughter. I closed my eyes with the realisation and mimicked his sigh. "No," I said softly. "We're going house hunting today."

_Keep on reviewing. I love them all!_


	7. Chapter Seven

_Okay, just to tease you all for a moment, I'm actually a chapter ahead of myself. I know exactly what will be happening. MWA HA HA!!! Anyway, as always, thanks for the wonderful reviews. This chapter is a little more adult than usual, I don't know why, it just happened. So enjoy!_

**Chapter Seven**

We were in the Porsche, and Ranger was allowing me to drive. I'm not sure what that meant, but I was hoping he was just feeling generous. He had a newspaper open on his lap and was circling entries in the property section. He also had a number of print outs including an email from his real estate agent. I think he'd already been contemplating house hunting before this morning. He kept cutting his eyes to me, making me nervous. I was always nervous when I was driving with a male in the car, they seemed to think they knew everything about driving, but he wasn't helping my cause with his furtive glances.

It didn't take long for me to crack. I pulled to the side of the road without indicating and turned in my seat. "What?" I exclaimed.

I seemed to have frightened him a little bit, because his eyes widened almost imperceptibly. "I was just wondering what you were thinking," he said timidly.

"I'm thinking you're freaking me out with your glances. Is there something you want to tell me?" I know what you're thinking, and no, this doesn't count as pressing him, this is simply me getting frustrated with him, there's a hug difference.

"Well, I suppose now's as good a time as ever to tell you that I have to go out tomorrow after lunch by myself."

"Why?" Okay, now I might be pressing, but it still doesn't count, no one's mentioned the disease yet, he probably thinks I'm just being curious, it's been known to happen.

"I have an appointment." That was all he gave me.

"An appointment with?" I prompted. He can't have expected me to leave it as he had an appointment.

"A medical expert," he sighed. Looking back at his papers he added, "I think we should check this place out first."

"Why do you have an appointment with a medical expert tomorrow, Ranger? What's wrong?"

"I don't want to talk about it right now, Babe. Can we drop it for now?"

_Of course we can't!_ I wanted to scream at him. Instead I settled for, "Is it your leg?" I had noticed the previous day that he had stopped dead on his was from his home office to the bathroom for no apparent reason, holding the wall for support, he then shook his leg vigorously and rubbed it. He hadn't noticed me looking, probably didn't even consider it, because I never once faltered in the story I was reading to Laura at the time. It was her favourite, "My Blue Boots," I had read it so many times that I knew it off by heart, including page turns.

He nodded. "Just some tests to rule out some major causes for the discomfort I've been feeling lately." Leaning over the console he cupped my face. "Absolutely nothing to worry about, I'm sure it's nothing."

_Sure,_ I thought_, Just a fatal disease that will give you a maximum of five years to live. Nothing to worry about there._ "You'd tell me if something was seriously wrong with you, wouldn't you?"

Again, he nodded. "For now, I seriously think we should look at this house." He read me the address and I took us there. We walked through three potential houses before we stopped for lunch. He directed me to a scenic park and when I mentioned our lack of food he produced a picnic hamper from the trunk. "Chicken sandwiches for two," he said.

"Compliments of Ella?" I asked eagerly. I knew Ella well enough to know that even if Ranger requested chicken sandwiches for himself and me that she would throw in some sweets for me as well, that's why I loved her so much.

"The one and only."

I was halfway through my second sandwich when Ranger did something very peculiar; he wiped his forehead as if removing sweat, gulped twice and put his hand into his jeans pocket. I stopped chewing, watching him slowly pull his hand from said pocket. As he turned to face me I swallowed. "What are you doing?" I asked, slightly paranoid.

He took my hand in his and leaned in. "I want to make this family deal official. I've loved you for so long, and when you left I couldn't even look at another woman and not think of you. I love the daughter you've given me. I want you to marry me." He lifted the hand that had recently emerged from his pocket and struggled for several seconds. "_Not now!"_ he muttered so softly that I almost missed it. After another moment or so, he simply opened his trembling palm.

I stared at the shiny object that sat there. The ring. The rock. I picked it up from his hand and held it between both hands, simply staring. When I raised my eyes to meet his I found hope and love and all the things I have always wanted. He was smiling tensely waiting for my reply. My throat had closed over, making speech virtually impossible at that moment, so I nodded and slipped the ring onto my finger. After another moment of staring at the rock I flung my arms around his neck. I had intended it as a hug, but he had other ideas for it.

He lips found mine in a matter of milliseconds and the sandwiches were completely forgotten on the rug next to was as he pulled me onto his lap, deepening the kiss. He manoeuvred my legs so I was straddling him and rested a hand at the juncture of my thigh and torso, causing me to move forward involuntarily. He chuckled and broke the lip lock for a brief moment, leaning his forehead against my own. "You don't have the Laura excuse this time, Babe," he mused.

Breathing heavily, I replied, "I do have the, we're in public excuse though."

He shook his head. "Look around, we're in a secluded area of the park. Not only that we're the only ones in the park, AND it's a Wednesday." I narrowed my eyes at him and he chuckled again. " I could always take you to those toilet blocks we passed on the way over, if you want to risk getting diseased."

I sighed, "Just shut up and kiss me." I was wearing a short green and white spotted skirt and three quarter length leggings, and, as I claimed his lips, I felt Ranger's hand pull down the leggings. He nipped my lip playfully, while his fingers worked away and baring my legs. Once they were off, he flung the leggings into the picnic basket and ran his hands along the goosepimply skin of my thighs.

"I don't know why you cover these up all the time," Ranger whispered, nipping a trail to my earlobe. "They're so sexy." His fingers found my panties and within moments they were gone and I was pinned beneath him as he worked his zipper. _OH!_ Look at that! He's commando!

Ranger had refused to let me put my leggings back on after the picnic scene, claiming it was a shame for him not to be able to see them. I must say though, it made it rather hard to concentrate on the road because he kept running his hands over my thigh. We'd seen several more houses, and I was still liking the looks of the first one best. It was the only one with a decent sized back yard, all the rest were practically postage stamps.

"What do you think so far?" I asked him, stilling his hands on my thigh. "I liked the first one best."

"Wait until you see the next one." He directed me through a number of turns and eventually we stopped outside a gorgeous two story town house. It was painted a brilliant shade of blue with orange trimming around the door and windows.

I turned to look at my fiancé, yes that's right, fiancé. I had to get used to the idea. "This place isn't for sale," I said, indicating to the lack of signage.

"I have the key though, so it must be."

"This place is absolutely perfect!" I exclaimed several minutes later as we came back through the living area on our way back to the front of the house. "How did you find it?"

"I bought it not long before you went away. It was really run down at the time and I've been slowly doing it up. Everything was done with you in mind." He added, pointing out the cookie jar on the counter in the kitchen. "You never once left my mind the entire time you were here. This place kept me sane."

"You're not serious," I said disbelievingly.

"Yeah, Babe, I am. I bought this house for you, hoping that one day you would add your crazy life to it."

"My life isn't crazy," I countered, "Anyway, did you ever stop to think that maybe the reason my life is so crazy is because of you? I had a perfectly normal life until you walked into the coffee shop, thank you very much."

"Babe, I've heard the stories. You broke your arm trying to fly off the garage roof."

"That's different, I was only a kid. Completely irrelevant."

"Well then I guess I'll just have to bring you back to what really matter right here, right now." He pulled me to him and laid a sensuous kiss on my lips. All I could do was melt into him. "I love you," he said, punctuating the statement with a kiss. "You love me," another kiss, "We love Laura," and another, "And this house was built for you," this kiss that followed this statement was tender, with just a touch of tongue.

"We should go christen that bed upstairs," I moaned into his mouth.

"You read my mind," he chuckled.

_Review please! You know you want to! Just hit that little button and type it in. Easy as pie._


	8. Chapter 8

_I had a heap of fun writing this chapter. Well... as much fun as possible at two in the morning, but I have to write it when it comes to me, otherwise you'd all still be waiting for chapter two... As always I hope you enjoy._

**Chapter 8**

When I opened the door to the seventh floor apartment at six o'clock a small body came pelting out of the bathroom. "Mummy!!" she screamed, throwing her arms around my legs, rendering me unable to move. Ranger chuckled behind me where he was stuck for the moment.

"Loza! How was your day? Were you good for Ella?" I asked, trying to detach her from my leg. She had on only her pull ups... it makes you wonder, doesn't it?

"We made chocolate muffins, and ice cream and fried rice and chicken stir fry and I spilled egg on myself while making spring rolls, so Ella tried to give me a bath but I ran away and now you're back!" She gripped a little tighter as Ella came out of the bathroom. "Did you find us a home?" she asked.

"We sure did, Loza, now would you mind letting go of you mother so we can come in?" Ranger said, leaning over my shoulder to stare down at the kid.

"When can I see it?" she enthused bounding down the hall in front of me.

"The day after tomorrow," I said, casting a glance at Ranger. He nodded his agreement and went to grab a drink of water from the kitchen. "I have something to tell you, Li'l Laura. Come on, let's get you cleaned up first."

As I washed the egg from her hair she noticed the ring on my finger. She pulled it in front of her face and stared at it in awe. "Wow, Mummy, that's a big sparkly. Where'd you get it?"

I smiled and took a moment to admire my bling. "Daddy gave it to me. He asked me to marry him and I said yes." I thought for a moment. "We'll be a family officially."

"Dinner's ready when you are, girls," Ranger called through the door. "It's in the warming oven waiting. Don't take too much longer or I may eat without you."

"We're just about done here," I replied, "Why don't you start dishing it up?"

I had barely let go of the nightie I pulled over her head when she ran from the room. When I caught up with her in the kitchen she had already hoisted herself up on one of the stools, grinning wildly at Ranger. "What's with the face?" he asked, poking her cheeks.

"You's gonna marry Mummy!" she exclaimed. "Do I get to be the flower girl?"

Ranger chuckled and slid a plate in front of her. "How could I say no to you? You're the cutest thing I've ever seen."

Laura blushed and began to eat as Ranger slid a plate in front of me and himself. The evening was uneventful and ended in all of us in bed together, me in the middle, of course. I just knew that it would be a huge relief when we moved into the house, I'd be able to roll over with being stopped by a body on either side of me.

I was startled awake the next morning when I rolled over uninhibited. I sprang my hand out next to me, and sure as eggs, there was no one else in the bed at all. Taking full advantage of the opportunity I sprawled across half the bed and closed my eyes again, gently drifting back into dream land. Hours later, although it felt like mere moments, I was being woken by a small hand prying open my eye lids. The smell of coffee filled my nostrils and I reached toward the source.

"I think she's awake, Daddy," I heard Laura say close to my ear.

"She hasn't opened her eyes yet though. Maybe you should try to help her again." There was a hint of laughter in his voice, I realised just before my eye lids were pried open by the small fingers of my three year old daughter.

"Alright already. I'm awake, see?" I opened my eyes wide to emphasise my point and reached out for the coffee cup Ranger was holding.

"You want this?" he asked, swooping it under my nose quickly. "Sorry, Babe, this one's mine, yours is still in the kitchen. Guess I could have brought it in for you, I just didn't think of that."

I glared at him as Laura played with my hair. "Hand over the coffee, Ranger," I gritted out. It worked, I got the coffee, score one for Stephanie.

"You slept well I take it?" he asked in a very uppity way. "Being that it's half past ten and all. However, I'm afraid there is some business I have to attend to downstairs that I cannot allow Laura to escort me to. Hence, I have woken you up to take on your mothering duties."

"Daddy has to go to work and can't take me with him cause there's a scary man trying to hurt people down there," Laura translated, "So he woked you up so you can take care of me."

He kissed my forehead. "I'll be back this afternoon, I'll grab a bite from the break room before I go, okay?"

I nodded. He was putting on a brave face. I was sure that underneath everything he was really apprehensive about his test. Which was understandable, this was the test that determined if he would live or die, after all. Once he had left, Laura jumped on top of me, and took a long hard look in my eyes.

"Where's Daddy got to go?" she asked.

"To see a doctor," I told her, playing with a curl that bounced from her pony tail. She had let Ranger do her hair, I noted.

"Is Daddy sick?"

"Of course not, sweety," I soothed. _He's dying, it's completely different._ I shook my head to clear it of such depressing thoughts. Now was not the time to be negative, they weren't even sure if he had the disease or not yet. Just think positive.

"Then why is he going to the doctor?" she asked.

"A check up," I fabricated, it was the only way. "To make sure he's still healthy. It's like when I take you to the doctor and they measure how tall you are and what you weigh."

She nodded her understanding and slid off the bed. "Can I have a cookie?"

Gosh, to have the simple life of a child again. To be able to believe in fairies and Santa Clause and miracles and that every wish will come true. To be able to gloss over the things that make you unhappy, or afraid, or uncomfortable and simply live. "Only if you get me one as well," I conditioned.

When we had finished our cookies, I dressed and started packing the kitchen wear. I left out three sets of eating implements but packed everything else, pretty much, into the boxes I found in the foyer. Everything was wrapped in a layer of newspaper just to be on the safe side. By the time Ranger got home at five we were well on our way through the massive bookcase full of books.

I looked up the moment he opened the door. "Are you alright?" I asked, clearing my throat in a vain effort to keep my voice from quivering. It was obvious that he was not, but I needed verbal reassurance. His normally glimmering brown eyes were dulled by a coat of pain. His hands were shaking and his steps weren't as defined as they usually were. "Ranger?"

"Fine. Just need to sit down," he said softly, making his way to the nearest sitting surface which happened to be the armchair right next to where I knelt on the floor. He didn't sound fine. He sounded weak and scared and in pain.

Laura was staring at him, a mixture of confusion and apprehension on her face. "Can you get Daddy a bottle of water from the fridge, sweetie?" I asked. She trotted off to the kitchen. "Did it hurt?" I asked, after she was gone. Stupid question, I know, but I had to hear the answer. He simply nodded. "Where did they put the needles?" I pressed on. I wasn't sure why I was asking any of this. He pointed gingerly to his shoulders and thighs, opened up his hands, palms up and I noticed the bandaid stretched across the inside of his hand. "How many?"

"Too many," he uttered softly as Laura came back into the room carrying three bottles of water, one for each of us. "Thanks, Squirt." He managed a small smile for her and pet her on the head lightly, cringing a bit with the effort.

"Daddy, are you alright?" she asked, holding his hand still on the top of her head. "You look hurted."

"I'm fine, Loza, just a little worn out. I'll be better tomorrow, I promise. And then we can go see our new home." He smiled bigger for her sake and I unscrewed the top of his bottle of water for him.

0o0o0o0o0

As soon as I placed her down just inside the door the next day she was off; running this way and that, oo-ing and ah-ing at everything. Ranger grinned at her excitement and we followed slowly, his arm around my waist. He seemed a lot better this morning. He was either masking the left over pain, or it was gone, I wasn't sure which, and I wasn't about to ask him and ruin the glorious moment Laura was creating.

"Where's my room?" she asked eagerly, having screeched to a halt in front of us on the carpet.

"Upstairs," I laughed, "First door on the left."

She gave me a thoughtful look and held up her hands in confusion. Ranger chuckled, pushed one hand back down to her side and shook the other above her head. "This is your left hand." She leaped up and planted a quick kiss on his stomach (the highest place she could reach, even with a jump) and hurried up the stairs. She was up and out of sight by the time we started climbing and as we reached the top she came out of the room on the right.

"Why is there a swimming pool and a toilet in my room and no bed?" she asked.

"Show me your left hand again," I requested.

She held up her left hand and with another confused expression she said, "But when I face the other way, its on the other side. So this one is my left. See?" She demonstrated her dilemma.

Crouching down and spinning her to face him, Ranger began to explain the rules of left and right. "This hand is always the left," he began, tugging gently on her left hand. "And this one is always the right." He did the same to the right. "It doesn't matter which way you face, its always the same hand. Got it?"

"Got it," she nodded.

"Now, show me your left hand." She stuck it out in front of her. "Right," Ranger praised.

"No, Daddy, this is my right," she told him, swapping hands and shaking the right one at him.

"I know, what I meant to say was that you were correct." He spun her around and they tried again. "Show me you right hand." This time she stuck up her left hand. Ranger turned to look at me, eyeing off the purse still over my shoulder. "You got lipstick in that monstrosity?" he questioned. I nodded and pulled out a neutral and a frosted grape, exposing the colours to him. He took the frosted grape from my hand and put an 'L' on the back of the hand that was still waving around in the air. "This is you left," he informed her, lowering the hand. "See? 'L' for left. And this," he picked up the other hand and drew an 'R', "Is your right. 'R' for right. Think you can manage that?"

She nodded, looking at the back of her hands. Sticking out the left she followed it into her room. "Wow!" we heard her squeal. I knew the room was nothing special, just simply another undesignated room, but she saw it for what it really was, her room. This was the place that she would be storming to in ten or so years when I told her she wasn't allowed to go out with her friends because she hadn't finished her homework. Of course, she didn't know that yet, but it'd happen. This was a place that she could call her own.

"We can decorate it however you like," Ranger told her as she peaked her head into the closet.

Her eyes widened. "Really? Can I?"

I laughed. She was so adorable, the way her face lit up and she bounded up and down with joy. "Of course you can, Laura. It's your room, until the end of time."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she exclaimed, hugging us both quickly before returning the closet.

We left her to her explorations and walked down the hall a way. Ranger stopped me in front of the cupboard and turned to face me. "Something's been bugging me, Babe," he said seriously, holding both my hands. "How did you know about the needles?"

I rolled my eyes. "Bobby told me while you were making our daughter 'an army'," I informed him. "He told me not to ask you about it, that you would tell me in your own time, but last night, seeing you in such pain, it just kind of slipped out."

"You knew?" he asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Yes." A tear slid down my cheek and Ranger wiped it away with the pad of his thumb.

"Hey, look at me. I'm not going anywhere. The doctors are wrong, Babe, I'm fine, I know I am."

"You don't get to make that decision, though, Ranger. Its not up to you. It's-."

He cut me off with a kiss. "You have to have faith in me, Babe. If I say there's nothing wrong, there's nothing wrong. I know my body." I nodded and hid my face in his shoulder, drying my tears on his shirt at the same time. "I'm not leaving you or our beautiful daughter, I won't allow it," he said, rubbing soothing circles on my back. He hands worked wonders, he was like a healer. All of a sudden, I didn't doubt what he said was true. Everything was alright and we were moving into the house that had been so carefully restored for me. Life was going to be okay. Steady as a rock. My rock. My Ranger.

_REWVIEW!!! Ahem... Please?_


	9. Chapter Nine

_Gah, I'm breaking my self imposed resolve to stick to one update per day. It's been sitting here since yesterday and even with posting this chapter I'm still a chapter ahead and the night is still young. So here it is. Enjoy_

**Chapter Nine**

The door slammed downstairs, causing me to drop my paint brush. Laura, beside me, jumped, splattering paint across her face and my leg. We were finishing off the final coat of purple paint on her bedroom walls, Ranger had been called to the hospital to discuss his test results a couple of hours before, and evidently, he had just arrived.

"INCONCLUSIVE!" he bellowed as I skittered to the top of the stairs. "INCON-FUCKING-CLUSIVE!" He practically slammed his keys into the dish on the side table by the door. "THE FUCKING IDIOTS DON'T HAVE A FUCKING CLUE!" As I hurried down the stairs toward him he continued to rant loudly. "THEY HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT THE FUCK THEY ARE DOING! NOT ONE OF THEM WAS ABLE TO GIVE ME ONE VIABLE REASON AS TO WHY THE RESULTS WERE INCONCLUSIVE! THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW THAT MUCH ABOUT THE DAMNED DISEASE THEY'RE SAYING I HAVE. YOU KNOW WHAT THEY TOLD ME DURING MY FIRST VISIT? IT COULD TAKE TIME TO POSITIVELY DIAGNOSE. IF THEIR RIGHT, THOUGH I don't have much time left," his voice was suddenly deadly calm, as if he had just realised what he was doing. "I don't have time to fuck about retaking their stupid inconclusive test. I have a life to live." He looked up at the ceiling. "YOU HEAR THAT GOD?" he screamed. "I HAVE A LIFE TO LIVE! I HAVE A FAMILY TO LOOK AFTER! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH CHAOS IT WOULD CAUSE IF I WAS TO LEAVE? I CAN'T DIE! I JUST CAN'T!"

I stopped several feet in front of him, afraid to get any closer. I had never seen him like this; his cheeks were flushed with anger and he was actually waving his arms about. Laura had crept down the stairs behind me and was hanging onto my leg. I could feel her trembling and looked down to see fear in her eyes and tears on her face. I put my hand on her head to let her know I was there. "RANGER!" I yelled at him. He didn't hear me, he wasn't looking my way, he was still screaming at the ceiling. "RANGER!" I tried again. This time his shouts faded to nothing and her turned slowly to face me. "You're scaring Laura," I whispered, trying so hard to keep my voice normal, but it was hard with the tears threatening behind my eyes.

"Shit," he whispered, his gaze locking on mine for a moment, before he lowered it to the small shivering form attached to my leg. He knelt down and reached out a shaking hand, but she flinched away as if he'd hurt her. "I'm so sorry, Laura," he whispered, running a hand over his face in frustration. Another tear fell silently down her face and he reached to wipe it way, but she ran back up the stairs, into her room and closed the door. "I didn't mean to-," he started, collapsing onto the ground. "I didn't realise-," he tried again, halting mid sentence once more. "Should I go-?" he pointed upstairs. He didn't seem to be able to finish a single sentence.

I crouched down in front of him, holding his face in my hands as he had done so often to me. "I don't think you going up there is going to help at the moment," I cautioned. "Why don't you try to calm down and I'll go talk to her." Upstairs, Laura's room seemed empty, but I knew better. As I approached the closet I heard sobs from within. I knocked softly twice.

"Go way," came her small choked voice.

"Sweetie, can you come out so I can talk to you?" I leaned my forehead against the door waiting for her reply.

"Is Daddy there?" she asked sniffling.

"No, sweetie, it's just me. Daddy is still downstairs."

The closet door creaked open just a little. Enough for her to stick her head out a small way. She looked side to side, confirming what I told her. Her sad little eyes met mine and she crawled all the way out. I hoisted her into my arms and squeezed her as if my life depended on it. "Honey, Baby, Sweetie. Everything's alright. Daddy's just upset, that's all. He found out something that upset him. He didn't mean to scare you."

"He was loud!" she wailed into my shoulder, shaking with the sobs that wracked her small body. "He just keeped yelling, Mummy."

"I know honey, I know. He didn't know what he was doing. Calm down, Baby. Take a deep breath like Mummy taught you. In and out, come on. Good girl."

"Mummy, can you sing the song?" she asked, sniffing and wiping her nose with the back of her hand.

I carried her out onto the landing and sat down on the top step. Ranger was no longer in the entrance way. Whenever Laura was hurt or scared she asked me to 'sing the song',_ the song_ being Bridge Over Troubled Water. It calmed her down and actually had her smiling a couple of times, so I sang to her.

"_When you're weary, feelin' small  
When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all.  
I'm on your side, Oh, when times get rough  
And friends just can't be found.  
Like a bridge over troubled waters  
I will lay me down.  
Like a bridge over troubled waters  
I will lay me down._

Ranger came out of the kitchen at the start of the second verse and just stood transfixed, listening and watching. Taking the whole scene in. Tears fell from his eyes for the first time ever and I wanted to embrace him, but knew that Laura needed me up here. So I sang to the both of them.

_  
When you're down and out, when you're on the street  
When evening falls so hard, I will comfort you.  
I'll take your part, Oh when darkness comes  
And pain is all around  
Like a bridge over troubled waters  
I will lay me down.  
Like a bridge over troubled waters  
I will lay me down._

_Sail on silver girl, sail on by  
Your time has come to shine, all your dreams are on their way  
See how they shine, Oh if you ever need a friend  
Look around, I'm sailing right behind  
Like a bridge over troubled waters  
I will ease your mind  
Like a bridge over troubled waters,  
I will ease your mind.  
I'll ease your mind."_

As I moved on to the final verse Ranger came to the foot of the stairs, he was singing too, watching Laura in particular now. She had stopped crying and was sitting sideways on my lap, looking down at her father. Their gazes were locked throughout the entire verse and as the last notes faded into oblivion he opened his arms in the world wide gestured for a hug. Laura flew down the stairs and into her Daddy's arms without hesitation, everything forgiven. They embraced and stayed that way for a long time. Neither moved or spoke or did anything other than hug. They didn't need words, they had that father-daughter connection that I had always had with my own father. Plus I was pretty sure she had inherited Ranger's ESP; that was gonna be fun when she grew up.

Several sentimental moments passed and Ranger opened his arms for me. I came down the stairs slowly, a small smile forming on my face. I entered the warm, loving hug, tears still threatening behind my eyes. I was determined not to let them fall. This was a happy moment. "How do you know the song?" I asked the father of my child, my future husband, my rock, my shelter from the rain.

"The amount of times I've heard it come through my earpiece when you were on a job," he told me, kissing first my eyes and then Laura's. "It's stuck in my head all these years." He squeezed us both a little tighter to him and added, "Thankyou."

"For what?" Laura and I both asked.

"For being you. For being the golden light at the end of the storm." Gently he ran a hand over Laura's ribs, bringing out a giggle. "For this sweet angelic sound," he added, "For giving me the strength I need to carry on. For allowing me to have ice cream for lunch."

"Ice cream for lunch?" Laura asked. "I wasn't told we was having ice cream for lunch."

"Neither was I, Loz, but it sounds like a fabulous idea, don't you agree."

She nodded. "Daddy has good ideas. Like us moving in with him, and you getting married, and having ice cream for lunch. He's the good idea man."

Ranger chuckled at her statement. "Hear that, Babe? I'm the good idea man."

I rolled my eyes. My man and his ego.

_Reviews are great, keep them coming._


	10. Chapter 10

_Well, for those reading my reviews, you will have noticed a none too pleasant one from one anonymous Ranger Lover, well here's what I have to say. Everyone has the right to their own imagination! If you can dream it, you can write it. So what if the characters aren't consistent with the books? This isn't about being consistent with the book, this is about sharing ideas! And anyway, only JE herself can truly get the characters right. I've watched this kind of emotional trouble first hand and know that it doesn't matter what they're like before hand, they change once they have that knowledge. So to Ranger Lover I say GO GET STUFFED! GET A LIFE! GET A HAIRCUT AND GET A REAL JOB! I'm going to finish this story whether you like or not, but I'm not going to write any at the moment, because I feel like killing the entire fucking Stephanie Plum world. _

_So here's chapter ten... sorry about the outburst but it really ruined my day. Bec_

**Chapter 10**

Ranger sat bolt upright in bed, waking me. It was our first night in the house. Laura's room was set up perfectly, despite the minor problems Ranger had when constructing the bed; namely, he didn't read the instructions, a typical male arrogance trait. It was programmed into them at birth, that and not being able to stop and ask for directions. I rolled over sleepily so I could see him. "What's wrong?" I mumbled.

"Three," he replied quietly. "Two, one."

"Need to run!" Laura's voice penetrated the darkness, that and the light that she switched on when she entered. I cringed and grumbled, burying my head in the pillow. "Need to run!" Laura repeated. I could hear her feet hit the floor as she jumped up and down.

Sighing my resignation I began to climb from the bed, only to be pushed back in by a pair of strong hands behind me. Ranger had slipped silently from the bed and come around to my side. "Sleep, Babe. I've got it." He brushed a tendril of hair from my face and kissed my forehead.

"Quick, Daddy! I need to run!" Laura implored.

"Alright already," Ranger breathed. "Why don't you start by running downstairs and getting some shoes on." With that she raced off, leaving me in silence and I was back in the land of nod before I knew it, dreaming of that day with the white dress and the perfect man at the end of the aisle and my beautiful little girl in a pretty purple frock. Ah, dreamland was bliss, was it not?

"Wakey, wakey, eggs and Bakey!" screamed Laura in my ear all too soon after that night time run announcement. "Daddy sent me upstairs to tell you that breakfast is almost ready. He's cooking bacon and eggs!"

I took a sniff at the air, and sure enough, the sweet aroma of coffee and cooked breakfast were floating up from the kitchen. "What time is it?" I asked my daughter, slowly sitting up and swinging my feet over the side of the bed.

"Seven," she said proudly. "Daddy and I went running. We ran around the block twice then stopped at the corner store to buy milk on the way back." I nodded to show that I was still listening. "He falled over." She told me, concern furrowing her brow. "It took him a while to get up. Is Daddy okay?"

"He's fine, Laura, why do you ask?"

She climbed up on the bed next to me. "Because when he was being scary the other day, he told the ceiling he had to live, that he couldn't die."

"Don't you think anything of that, sweetie, Daddy didn't know what he was saying; he was upset. Like when you were upset with Jenny and told her you hated her, even though you knew you didn't." She nodded understanding and skipped from the room. I trailed after her following my nose to the food that Ranger was laying on the table.

"Morning Babe," he chimed as he limped around the table toward me. It wasn't much of a limp; he was trying to cover it up and failing. "Sleep well? I know I did."

"Ranger, your leg," I said, concerned.

"It's fine," he assured me. "I just tripped while out running this morning. It'll be fine by the time I leave for work."

"You're not driving," I told him sternly, "And I'm coming to your appointment this afternoon."

"Babe, no," he pleaded.

I stuck up my left hand between us. "See this?" I asked, pointing to the massive rock. "This signifies that I'll be there for you, rich and poorer, sickness and health, better and worse." I didn't add the last line that ran through my head, it didn't seem appropriate.

He chuckled softly, kissing the hand. "Technically, my beautiful, it is the ring that isn't currently on your hand that signifies all that."

"Irrelevant!" I exclaimed. "The point is, I'm coming to that appointment whether you like it or not." I moved to the table and sat down in front of a plate of food. "I'm calling my mother to go dress hunting this morning after I drop you off. I'll pick you up at one. I cleared it with Lester, he can look after Laura while we're gone."

"Yay!" Laura exclaimed. "Uncle Lester!"

The rest of breakfast was fairly uneventful. Ranger spilled his juice, but that was it. Laura was already bathed and dressed as was Ranger. He helped her get her backpack ready with the essentials for the day; spare pull ups, colours and colouring pad, book to read, book to draw and juice boxes. I took a quick shower and called my mother while I styled my hair.

"Plum residence," came her reply when she picked up on the third ring.

"Hi, Mum," I began, "Did Dad tell you I was in town?"

"Yes, he may have mentioned it." She was cold, although, I'm not sure if I expected anything other than that.

"Well, I was wondering if you would come with me to find my wedding dress."

"Wedding dress?" she asked, shock clearly evident in her voice.

"I'm getting married, Mum, and I want you to help me find a dress. And I have someone who I think you want to meet."

"You're getting married?" she asked incredulously.

"Yep, I'll pick you up in about half an hour, okay?" She gave me an affirmative squeak and I ended the call.

0o0o0o0o0

"Is Gracie's still open on Frederick?" I asked my mother as she got into the Porsche half an hour later. "She's the one who did my prom dress, I like her."

"Of course it is," Mum replied, staring at me solidly, "What have you done to you hair? All your beautiful curls, gone."

"It was troublesome, Mum, I had more important things to worry about that my hair." I was, of course, referring to the little girl in the back seat whom she had not yet even noticed.

"Like what?" she demanded. "What had you so busy that you had to cut of your hair and get rid of your curls?"

Taking a moment to glance in the back seat, I said, "Laura, this is your Grandmother, if you're really good she'll make you cookies as well."

"Who are you talking to?" my mother asked, eyes still fixed on me.

"Hmm, maybe I'm talking to the young lady in the booster seat in the back. She's mine, and I think she deserves to know her Grandmother."

"What's a Gramother?" Laura asked.

Mum's head snapped back to stare at her as I swung onto Frederick. Her jaw hung open in shock. "She's beautiful!" she exclaimed.

I pulled into the parking lot at the back Gracie's and turned in my seat to face my little girl. "Grandmother, is Mummy's mum. You can probably call her Gran, or Nan, or Nanna or Grandma. OR if you wanted to be different you can combine Grandma and Nan and end up with Nanma."

My mother cut her eyes to me, a cold hard stare. "Are you trying to be funny?" she asked.

I gave her a grin. "Always. So what'll it be? Personally, I like Nanma."

"Nanma!" Laura exclaimed from the backseat.

"I guess I can get used to that," Mum muttered, releasing her seatbelt and getting out of the car.

As we entered the dress shop we were greeted by the standard people entering speel which was abruptly cut off. "Good morning, welcome to Gracie's. We're dedicated to- OHMIGOD! STEPHANIE PLUM?" I took a step back at the squeal, and finally my eyes found the source. Sitting behind the counter just to my right was Erin McCoranny. She was in my senior English class, we used to sit at the back of the room gossiping, like there was anything else to do in English. "WOW! I haven't seen you since graduation! Stephanie Plum."

"Soon to be Manoso," I corrected her, showing off my ring.

Her eyes practically popped out of her head as they were met with the sight. "Now _that_ is a rock. Girl, your man really knows what a girl likes."

"You better believe it. You remember my mother?" I indicated the woman standing to my right. "And this little beauty," I indicated the arms around my leg. "Is my daughter, Laura Emily."

Erin smiled down at her before returning he gaze to my face. "You're looking for a wedding dress then?" she asked. _Well duh!_ "Was there anything in particular you were looking for?"

"Something simple, yet elegant," I replied. "White, but it doesn't have to be strictly white. A bit of purple wouldn't go astray."

"Stephanie, you can't have purple on your wedding gown!" my mother said sternly.

I turned to look her in the eyes. "As I recall, mother, I've already had the white dress, church wedding. With Dickie, remember? This one will be done my way, okay?"

An amused expression stole over Erin's face as she ushered us through to the back room. "Let's see what we have that appeals. Will it be and indoor or outdoor wedding?"

I wasn't sure, we hadn't actually discussed details of the wedding. We'd gotten as far as we only want a few family and friends, we didn't even have a date. "Uh, we haven't really discussed it, yet. It's only been a week."

"Well, you need to know whether its indoor or out, Steph, the style of your dress depends on it," Erin told me.

"Alright, I can get this cleared up in just a moment, Laura, hand me my cell phone." Laura handed me the phone which she pulled from her pocket, it was a habit of hers. I dialled the necessary number. "Ranger, sweetie, we're having an outdoor wedding."

On the other end of the line Ranger was silent. "I'll deal with it as soon as possible," came his reply, I guess he was in a meeting.

"Preferably in a garden, with lots of flowers. Is that okay with you?"

"I understand your concern, I'll take care of everything."

"Okay, Ranger, I love you!" I made kissy sounds into the phone.

"Thank you for the reminder, I share your sentiments. I'll be on to that as soon as I'm through here."

I hung up and started laughing. "He was in a meeting," I told them. "He was making it sound like a business call. Outdoor wedding," I confirmed.

Erin lead us to a slightly less uptight section of dresses. She went along the aisle and picked out a couple of dresses she thought I might like or that fit my requirements. I tried them all on, when I got to the last one I had a good feeling in my stomach. I slipped it on; it fit like a glove... okay more like a dress, but that was understandable right? "This is the one," I called, opening the curtain of the dressing room. I had on a simple white dress with lilac flowers embroidered down the left side that came to the floor. It was corseted in the back with purple string. There was no other word for it than perfect; absolutely perfect.

"Mummy's pretty," Laura exclaimed like she had done most times I emerged, but this time her smile lit the room more than ever before.

"Wow," uttered Erin from the couch where she and my mother sat, open mouthed in awe.

"So, I'll take that as a unanimous yes, shall I?" I asked, laughing as I spun for them.

"Stephanie, if you don't get that dress I'll disown you," my mother finally said.

Still laughing I gave her a salute and returned to the dressing room. "We're also looking for a flower girl dress for Laura," I called as I pulled on my jeans. "Purple. And while we're at it, let's see if we can tie in bridesmaid dresses."

By the time I got out she had already returned with a pile of dresses. She picked out a couple of suitable ones for Laura and I helped her try them on. "Mum, could you call Mary-Lou and Val and get them over here?"


	11. Chapter Eleven

_Thank you so much for all your encouragement. For those of you that were worried, I never had any intentions of scrapping the story. Here's the next chapter, brought to you by an early morning idea. Four sticks of gum and a sore hand later, I'm posting it. Enjoy._

**Chapter Eleven**

The dresses, amazingly, were sorted out by the time I had to leave to drop Laura off and pick Ranger up. Val and Mary-Lou were ecstatic that I chose them as m bridesmaids, if a little shocked that I hadn't let them know I was in town sooner. All was forgiven with the sight of my new bling, however. They had gawked at it endlessly and exclaimed at the size of it. Mary-Lou told me more than once that she'd told me he was the one for her. She also made me promise her that we would get together for lunch sometime, just the two of us. A similar amount of gawking was reserved for my beautiful daughter, who, true to form, stuck close to my leg the entire time. I didn't tell them about the situation with Ranger, he didn't want anyone to know, hell he hadn't wanted me to know, and I respected that.

Ranger had been limping less when I picked him up, it was almost imperceptible, but I knew it was still there. There was no fooling Stephanie, Soon-to-be-Manoso, Plum. The short drive to the hospital was carried out in silence, and once we were inside the hospital it only got worse. We waited a few minutes in the neurology wing before a nurse came and showed him to the room. I wasn't allowed in, so I gave him a peck on the cheek and told him I was praying for him. He knew that when I said I was praying that I meant it, as opposed to when I said I was going to church. Just before he went in he pulled me into a brief, yet fuller kiss. "I don't need God when I have you, Babe," he whispered in my ear, and entered the room.

I took up residency on the bench outside and did just as I had told him I would do. My eyes were shut tight against the bright lights of the hall, my hands were clasped together in my lap and my lips were moving nonstop. What seemed like decades later, but in reality was only forty-five minutes, Ranger shuffled out of the room. He seemed worse than the first time, which I guess I should have expected, given that I hadn't seen him straight after the event, it had been at least half an hour after the fact. His face was pale and his skin seemed almost transparent.

I slid over on the bench so that he could sit down before he collapsed. He took my offer gratefully, sinking into the back of the bench, leaning his head against the wall with his eyes closed. His entire body was trembling. It was almost unbearable watching him.

"Are you alright?" I asked him, even though the answer was obvious.

He grabbed my hand in his own wobbly one and squeezed lightly. "Just give me a minute," he told me, his voice barely more than a breath of air. "I'll be fine soon."

"He just needs to rest," the nurse said, emerging from the room. In comparison to his frail looking form she looked overly healthy. There was a glow to her features. I wanted to curse her, as she had transferred Ranger's health to herself, leaving behind this ghost of his former self. Instead though, I simply nodded and returned my attention to my fiancé. She left, not even offering him a juice or anything, how inconsiderate.

"Does it still hurt?" I asked, laying my other hand on top of his. He shook his head but I could see the slight cringe on his face he did so.

Sitting forward suddenly, he let go of my hand. "Alright, let's go, this place depresses me."

As he stood I followed, making sure he didn't fall over. He didn't, swayed precariously at first. "I'll take you home so you can get some rest before I go get Laura," I suggest, but again he shook his head.

"I need both my girls, Babe," he told me as we made our way slowly to the exit. "Her smile and your touch are what I need right now, I can sleep when I'm dead." I stopped dead in my tracks at the comment. I know that he meant it as a joke, but it was in poor taste at the moment. "I didn't mean it like that, Babe," he assured me, having stopped several feet ahead, "I just meant that I need the two of you more than sleep at the moment. Come on let's go grab that girl and go watch some clouds."

The next couple of days, while filled with excited discussions and arrangements regarding both the forthcoming wedding and the engagement party that I had convince Ranger we needed to throw, sported a sort of quiet tension that peaked every time the phone rang. I jumped on each such occasion, no matter what I was doing, and ran to answer it. Even Laura seemed to sense that, although outwardly things seemed the same as they had been of late, there was something amiss just below the surface. My suspicions were confirmed two days after Ranger's re-examination when I approached Laura's room after a long soak in the enormous tub.

Ranger had assured me that he would put Laura to bed tonight, read her a bedtime story, the whole kit and caboodle. What I heard as I padded down the hallway, however, sounded nothing like either a bedtime story or sleep. It was more like a conversation, a serious conversation to boot.

"Everything's fine, Squirt," came Ranger's soft assurance in reply to the question I had narrowly missed, but could have easily guessed. "Mummy and Daddy are just a little preoccupied at the moment, that's all."

"What's poccupied?" she enquired.

"We have things on our minds that are making it hard to focus on other things," he explained patiently.

"Oh," Laura uttered quietly, then, "What things?"

I heard a sigh fall from his lips and envisioned him running a hand through his hair. "Grown up things, Laura, nothing for you to worry about."

"Oh," she repeated, this time leaving it at that.

"There was a rustle of material and I peered around the doorjamb to find Ranger settling down against the headboard of the bed beside the pillows, having apparently abandoned the chair that stood a couple of feet away. Laura snuggled up to his side, her head on his thigh and he gently stroked her wild curls. "When you need to start worrying I'll let you know, got it?" he asked. She nodded her head in agreement and Ranger changed the subject. "So how about that story?" Laura, having made herself completely comfortable, with her eyes closed and little fist curled into his loose pyjama pants, simply nodded again. Comforted by the fact that he had handled the situation so well, I took my cue to leave from the slight smile he cast in my direction as he began his tale.

Downstairs in the kitchen, I pulled the half empty roll of cookie dough from the fridge and took a bite. I did actually have intentions of baking cookies when I'd picked it up at the store, but old habits die hard. _No, don't think like that_. I chased the dough down with a glass of milk and settled into the big comfy couch in the living room for some mind numbing tube time. I'm not sure how long I sat there before I decided to turn in, but it was long enough for both Laura _and_ Ranger to have fallen asleep in the position I'd left them. I chuckled a little at the sight and debated leaving him there, but thought it would probably give him a kink in his spine for tomorrow. So tiptoeing to the side of the bed, I laid one firm hand on his bare chest and two feather light lips on the shell of his ear.

"Ranger," I whispered, "Are you staying here or coming to bed?"

He was awake the moment I made contact and turned his head to capture my mouth in a brief kiss. "Be there in a minute, Babe," he assured me, untangling his fingers from our daughter's hair and stretching a little. I gave him a peck on the cheek and left him to remove Laura's fist from his pants.

Moments after I had descended into the pillows and closed my eyes I felt the bed dip and Ranger's arms encircled my waist, pulling my back to his front. I relaxed into his embrace as he nuzzled my neck.

"I'm proud of you," I murmured.

"How so?" he enquired, squeezing me a little tighter to make sure I didn't fall asleep before I clarified my statement.

"You handled Laura's questions beautifully," I told him on yawn as I nestled a little closer to him. "Just the right tone, not startling information for her to try to grasp; it was heartfelt."

"I learned from the best," he said softly. We both drifted off after that, content to simply sleep in each other's arms.

0o0o0o0o0

My ears were assaulted way too early the next morning by and unpleasant and, quite obviously, unwanted noise. After a moment of groaning I reached across Range intending to turn off his alarm. I felt his chest vibrate beneath my arm and opened my eyes to find him grinning at me in silent laughter. The sound continued to split through my temples and I glared at him. "Turn the alarm off, Ric," I gritted out through clenched teeth.

"It's not the alarm, Babe," he chuckled, lifting my arm and positioning it on my stomach as I rolled onto my back. "It's the doorbell." He stood, grabbed a dark grey t-shirt from the floor and slipped it over his head as he headed out the door and down the stairs. His own footsteps were silent as always, however, listening carefully I could make out the patter of Laura following him down.

The doorbell had finally given up, but I was too awake to fall back asleep. I tried for several minutes, my eyes shut tight as I willed myself not to think; easier said than done. Finally, sighing my resignation, I slipped from the bed and pulled Ranger's t-shirt down so it covered my underwear. When I arrived downstairs I found Laura at the kitchen table, Flipsey in her lap, colouring in. Ranger, by the sounds of it, was outside conversing with the reason I was awake.

_You know I love hearing from you all, unless you have rotten things to say. So review please._


	12. Chapter 12

_Once again I was plagued with writer's block all day yesterday and then as soon as I went to bed the ideas began to form. Of course, I have learned from previous experience to write it or lose it. So, just for all you fabulous people out there in Fanfiction land I fired up my laptop and executed the plan in my head at one in the morning. It's a good thing I'm on holidays. So, here it is y'all. Enjoy!_

**Chapter 12**

I pondered over whether or not to go upstairs and get dressed before finding Ranger, but figured, he was in his PJs, so I may as well be too. He was deep in discussion with Lester on the front porch when I caught up to him. His face was a mixture of shock, disbelief and anger.

"What do you mean you don't know?" he asked Lester.

"Just that, bro, I have no idea how she..." he trailed off as his eyes fell on me in the doorway. "Morning Steph, sorry I woke you."

Ranger turned and pulled me to his chest, kissing the top of my head. "I thought you were going back to sleep for a few hours, Babe, it's only five."

I gave him a burg eye roll. "I couldn't. First of all there was the fact that that obnoxious doorbell ripped through me taking every ounce of sleep with it. And then there was the curiosity at who was at the door this early in the morning."

"I really am sorry," Lester repeated.

I laughed at his apologetic tone. "It's okay. I had to get up sooner or later." I looked from my man to Lester and back. "So who's 'she' and what doesn't Lester know?"

Ranger gave a chuckle and shook his head. He ran a hand over my face and cupped my cheek, never once losing eye contact. I was frightened I was going to fall into those molten pools when Lester spoke. "Mum turned up at Haywood late last night demanding to see her Ricky and his new fiancé. I told her Ranger was out on a bust and wouldn't be home until early morning, and offered her a Rangeman apartment for the night. This morning, I left to 'go running' before she woke up. I'm afraid to go back there, man. She's gonna skin me alive!"

"For lying to her?" I asked.

"No," Ranger, piped up, "For dishonouring the family. Then she'll kill him for lying to her."

A breeze swept through from the driveway and I hurried to keep the t-shirt-come-nightie down. "Dishonouring the family?" I asked, intrigued; wouldn't you be?

"He changed his name, Babe. I thought even you would have noticed that."

Shrugging slightly, while still keeping the t-shirt down, I grumbled, "I just figured he married in." Both men laughed and I blushed slightly. They'd both told me tonnes of stories about their joint childhood, and had never once questioned the fact that their last names were different. "Can we take this inside?" I asked as another gust of wind blew through. "I'm feeling a little exposed."

Ranger grinned and ran a hand up my thigh. "I like that," he whispered in my ear before turning me around and pushing me inside with a tap on my bottom. They followed me in and closed the door. Laura was still colouring at the kitchen table, waiting for breakfast no doubt. She jumped from her chair excitedly as Ranger entered followed by Lester. I thought she would run straight to her uncle first, but she surprised me by leaping into her father's arms. He hugged her tightly and murmured something in her ear and she giggled, reaching over Ranger's shoulder to tweak Lester's nose. Next thing I knew she was climbing over Ranger's shoulder and into Lester's arms. It was all quite hilarious and I struggled to keep my laughter from slipping out and ruining the moment.

I pulled the orange juice from the fridge and four glasses from the cupboard. "Juice?" I asked the monkey and the two trees. They all nodded. Lester was tickling Laura, causing her to emit those glorious sounds that cleared my soul of all its trouble every time I heard it. I poured out the juice and grabbed out a loaf of bread, intending to make myself and Laura some toast.

"I'll have two slices, thanks, Babe," Ranger told me, picking up one of the glasses.

I gave him a quick look that said, you're lucky I love you so much, and told him, "You're doing you own spreads."

Brushing his lips briefly against mine he said, "Of course I am, you spread the butter too thick." I glared at him and he grinned again, baring gleaming white teeth in the process.

"I'll have a couple as well since you're there, Bomber," Lester managed through fits of laughter as Laura squirmed in his arms.

"I'd watch her if I were you," Ranger told his brother as he gazed upon his daughter's writhing form. "She's brutal on the jewels."

"She can't be that bad," Lester giggled.

I exchanged a glance with Ranger, his expression said, if only he knew. Smiling my agreement I told him to grab out the spreads and placed a plate of four slices of toast on the table. "At least one of those is for Laura," I warned as Lester's laughs suddenly died. Turning in the direction of the doorway we found him slowly sinking to his knees. Once down, Laura ran to the table and climbed up on a chair.

Ranger stood in the open door of the refrigerator laughing his guts up as Lester sat clutching his prized possessions with a pained expression on his face. I have to admit, I too was laughing, to put it lightly. Truth be told I was guffawing; I was surprised I hadn't collapsed to the floor. Finally we both sobered and I held out a hand to help him up. He took it cautiously and I pulled him to his feet. "I hate to say I told you so, bro," Ranger chuckled, laying the spreads on the table along with a couple of butter knifes.

"So don't," Lester gritted out.

The toaster popped and I retrieved the toast as Ranger helped Laura spread a thin layer of butter and peanut paste on her slice. Eventually the topic of conversation returned to why Lester was here and I felt compelled to ask how their mother found out about the engagement. I certainly hadn't caught Ranger on the phone to her and I doubt he would have told her without telling me. Heck we hadn't even discussed his parents!

"That's what I don't know," Lester said through a mouthful of toast.

"She has an informant," Ranger said, narrowing his eyes and gesturing with his own piece of toast. "She always has an informant. She always knew when we'd misbehaved as kids, and things haven't changed just because we're men now." It was like he was discussing information on an enemy, which had me a little scared; the fact that he was waving a piece of toast, however, was quite comical. "Who would have ratted me out this time?" He turned a stony glare in Lester's direction.

"Hey, don't give me that look. I'm the one who came over here at five in the morning to warn you!" Lester held up his hands in defence.

Taking a bite of his toast that reminded me of a pirate taking a savage bite out of a turkey leg he spun his gaze on me. "Was it you?" his voice was semi-menacing like and I had a hard time keeping a straight face.

"Hang on, just a moment," I said, "I was doubting you even _had_ a mother. It couldn't have been me."

"That leaves one person," he uttered, slowly turning his head and giving Laura and head on stare. For a second I thought she was going to cry, but then Ranger's features split into a goofy face and he tickled her mercilessly. "Did you do it?" he was asking her over and over again. The only reply was her glorious giggles and periodic high pitched squeals of joy. Once he stopped he abruptly returned to silent Ranger and finished his toast without another word. We were all staring at him by the time he swallowed his last bite. "Well _I_ didn't do it!" he exclaimed.

Lester looked at his watch, "Well I better be heading back to my doom," he told us. "Be prepared when you roll into work later. She'll have gotten the taste of blood and be hungry for more."

An hour and a half later we were in the elevator on our way up to the fourth floor. Ranger had prepped me the entire way over. I was starting to think I was meeting the queen, not my future mother-in-law. All that was missing from his instructions was "always make sure your head is lower than hers" and I would have been sure she was the queen. Alternatively, if he had warned me not to look her directly in the eye I would have thought she was the Basilisk from Harry Potter and the Chamber of secrets; I was one impulse away from grabbing out my compact just in case.

When we arrived on the control floor we made our way straight to Ranger's office. There she was waiting. I'm not sure what I expected Ranger's mother to look like, but it certainly wasn't the knock out she was. She had to be at least fifty, but man, if I had to place her age on visual analysis I would have said thirty at the most. Her breasts were pert and jutted out perfectly symmetrical, her eyes were a shining gold-brown and her smile, wow. If she had demanded it I would have easily turned lesbian for her... WHOAH! Did I just think that? Better keep those thoughts in check, given my habit of accidentally thinking out loud. At least I now knew were Lester and Ranger got their looks. I mean DAY-AM!

"Ricky!" she greeted as soon as we entered the office. "Where have you been?"

"I was working until early morning, Momma," he told her.

"When were you planning on telling me about this fiancé of yours?" she asked, casting a glance past him to me. Laura was hiding behind my legs as usual.

"When I called to invite you to the engagement party," he simply replied. For all any of us knew it could have been the truth.

"Why wait until then? Why not pick up the phone and tell me before then? It's not that hard is it Ricky?"

I was really getting fed up with the tone of voice she was using. It was as if she was talking to a very naughty five year old. _God, strike me down if I ever use that tone of voice on a grown person, offspring or not._ And in front of his fiancé too! "Hi," I interrupted, coming forward a few steps into the room. "I'm Stephanie," I held out my hand to her and she looked at it for a moment as if it were diseased before taking it. "You must be Ric's mother. I've been looking forward to meeting you." Blatant lie, but she didn't know that, I could fabricate with the best of them.

"Call me Grace," she finally said.

I felt a tug at my black dress trousers and looked down to find Laura peering up at me. "I need to go wee-wees, Mummy," she informed me.

"Off you go then, sweetie, you know where the toilet is." She hurried out of the office and I returned my attention to Grace. Her eyes were wide and staring at me.

"You have a daughter?" she asked me. It sounded more like she was asking me for confirmation of sordid details of a murder.

I glanced at Ranger, who caught my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Yes, we do," I informed her, my eyes stilled locked on Rangers with a smile. He returned the favour and kissed my cheek.

"When was I going to hear about _that_?" she outraged. I swear I could see steam coming from her ears.

At that moment Bobby burst through the open door of the office. "I just got off the phone with the hos-. Good morning, Mrs Manoso, how are you? It's been a long time, you're looking well."

Mrs Manoso glared at him and he slunk away quick smart. Yikes, I'm not sure I liked this woman at all. If she could make mice out of the Merry Men imagine what she'd be able to do to my weak will! And was it Bobby had been about to say? If this wasn't my future mother-in-law I would have slapped her and told her to grow some manners, but I had to be nice. _Be nice be nice be nice. _Ranger gave my hand another squeeze. All I could manage was to gulp. _The Ice Woman Cometh!!_ Screw that, she was already here!

_Yes that's right, I have once again left you with no knowledge whatsoever as to whether or not Ranger is going to die. Yes the call Bobby had was from the hospital, and yes he does know the results. Don't you all hate Mrs Grace Manoso for not letting him speak to Ranger? Please review._


	13. Chapter Thirteen

_I found out yesterday just how hard it is to type with one hand. I jarred my wrist when I banged it against the corner of the desk, but I was determined to get this chapter out for you all. I even employed my brother to go through and fix up the mistakes I made, so if there's and left blame him. You'll have to excuse my lack of medical knowledge, they don't cover a lot, if any, neurology in the basic first aid course I attended, so you're stuck with what I think is plausible. Here it is. THE chapter. Enjoy! _

**Chapter Thirteen**

Have I mentioned that I don't like Ranger's mother? I thought my own mother was bad, woo, if only I'd known this devil woman while I was in my teens, I probably would have gone easier on mum. She was really laying into Ranger about the whole, you haven't called in months, you don't keep me informed on your life, when were you planning on telling me about my granddaughter and my future daughter-in-law issue. It was unbelievable; she kept her voice calm the entire time but still managed to convey complete and utter anger. It was quite scary, and I was starting to think this is where Ranger got his blank face technique. He just sat there taking all the crap she kept dishing!

Ranger and I sat on the leather couch of the office with Laura at our feet looking at one of her picture books. Grace sat in one of the leather chairs usually positioned at the desk for visitors. Her dark eyes were glistening and I could have sworn I caught glimpse of red. I wanted to scream DEVIL, but controlled my impulses by gripping Ranger's hand tight. He cast me a glance that said, ease up a little it alright, but I couldn't. If I let go, or even loosened my grip a little I was gonna punch her in the face.

Finally, the woman stood with a smile on her face; what was with that? "Well, as nice as this is, I 'm afraid I have to get going, I have an appointment that I can't miss."

She shook my hand and kissed Laura's forehead and Ranger's. Before I could even get a "Nice meeting you" out she was gone. Into the wind I suppose.

"She is such a..." I trailed off with a glance at Laura. The word I wanted to use in reference to his mother was not suitable for her young ears.

Ranger nodded, his jaw still tight. "I know, Babe, I've lived with it all my life. You just have to go along with what she says. Do what makes her happy and she'll be okay."

At the time he told me this I was thinking,_ like fuck I'm gonna give into that cow!_ In hindsight though, I can see that that is exactly what he wanted me to think. When she came over for dinner that night I gave her a piece of my mind. I beckoned her into the kitchen on the pretence of asking her opinion of the sauce. As soon as the door swung shut behind her, however, I turned on her.

"I know you don't know me that well," I began, "And I know you probably don't like me all that much because of it, but there is one thing you need to know about me. You don't scare me. All your calm anger and dictatorship may work on your own children, but I was brought to defend myself, even against my own mother. So here goes. It's not Ricardo's fault that you have been left on the outer circle of his life, he leads a very busy life. He owns a company that operates in at least three different states and he has bad guys constantly around the place. When he's not chasing after scumbags he's either in his office catching up on paperwork or sleeping, or more recently getting to know his daughter. Surely you could have found time between nip and tuck to pick up the phone and check in instead of leaving it up to him. Furthermore, I don't care what you think of me, I'm marrying him whether you like it or not, I love him, he loves me and we love Laura. It's gonna take more than you and your pathetic control to deter me."

The whole time I was speaking she kept her face void of any and all emotion, simply staring at me. I was slightly concerned that she had simply tuned out, until a grin broke her face. She enclosed me in her arms and to say the least, I was shocked. What was this evil? Hugs? God, if my mother had hugged me I would have been a whole lot more terrified of her than I was. "I knew it," she told me, holding me at arms length. "Welcome to the family."

I felt my mouth hanging open like one of those clowns at the state fair that you put the balls in to win a prize, but could do nothing about it. "Wh- what do you mean?" I finally stammered out.

Cupping my face she leaned in close. "I would never treat my children like that, no their partners. This is the way I test wills. Obviously he didn't warn you about that. You passed with flying colours, though. I'm glad Ricky found you. And you have a beautiful daughter. She will keep her father in line, that's for sure."

_It was just a test?_ "Thank you." There was nothing else I could think of to say. I was completely flabbergasted.

The rest of the evening went off without a hitch, full of smiles and laughter. It was like the scene in the office had never happened. My mind was working slowly, still trying to come to terms with the new information. Dinner, I am told, was delicious and dessert was pleasant. Later, Laura was falling asleep in Ranger's lap as we sat in the living room. Grace took that as her cue to leave.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Stephanie. I'm glad my Ricky found you. I'll leave you to put the little one to bed." She gave us each a kiss on the cheek and I took Laura upstairs and tucked her in while Ranger walked his mother to her car. As I came back downstairs the phone rang. I snatched it up from the table in the hall.

"Hello?" I greeted.

"Steph!" came Bobby's exclamation. "I meant to catch you and Ranger before you left the office, but I was called out to a breaking and entering before I had a chance. I only just got away. I have the results from the EMG."

"Hang on a second, I'll put you on speaker phone." Ranger, who had just come back in and was setting the alarm, gave me a raised eyebrow. "It's Bobby," I told him, "With the results. Okay, we're ready, Bobby," I added to the phone in my hand. One of Ranger's arms snaked around my waist and his other hand gripped my free one.

"You most definitely do not have Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis," Bobby announced proudly.

I relaxed into Ranger's arms utterly relieved. He pressed a light kiss to my hairline and I turned to capture his lips with my own. I had intended it to be a quick, congratulatory kiss, but before I knew it his tongue was slipping into my mouth and he was nipping at my lower lip. When I moaned softly against him I was startled by Bobby's voice coming through phone still in my hand. "Uh, guys? I'm still here."

I chuckled a little, breathlessly and sighed. "Sorry, Bobby. So if it's not ALS what is it?" Ranger was nuzzling my neck, making it hard to concentrate.

"Bruised nerve in his calf. Should heal itself, just don't go too hard on it, or start babying it. Um, is Ranger still there?"

At this Ranger bit my pulse point and I gave a little gasp. "Yeah," I confirmed. "What about the hands? What's the deal there?"

"Stress probably. Like you said, everyone has clumsy days. I'll let you go, it sounds like you're a little preoccupied." He chuckled and hung up.

As I put the phone back he grabbed my butt cheek. "Race you upstairs, Babe," he whispered in my ear. My knees practically gave out on me and he had to carry me up the stairs. "Or this is nice," he commented, chuckling a little.

_There you go. No death for Ranger... yet... stay tuned, I still have to go through the drama of the wedding and stuff. Reviews welcome._


	14. Chapter 14

_Sorry, it's been a little longer than I had planned for this update, but between trying not to vomit, trying to stay awake long enough to get out of bed, a sore wrist AND writer's block things have been a little off lately, so, as soon as this chapter came to me I pulled my laptop out and got to. It took a total of ten minutes to type up and I'm not into editing at the moment, so I apologise for any mistakes. Thanks to all those who reviewed. Enjoy!_

**Chapter 14**

I wasn't entirely sure how long I had been lying awake in the tangle of sheets staring at the ceiling and listening to the chatter floating up from the kitchen, but it was bliss. The father of my child was not dying, I was getting married and had experienced the best act of love imaginable. I think I should remind him he's not dying more often if that is how he's gonna react. I was trying to make out what the two of them were jabbering on about down stairs, but it was impossible over the ticking of the clock on the wall and the drip from the tap next door and I think the dishwasher was on.

All of a sudden the chatter stopped. I strained my ears, listening for any sign of movement or communication, but the house was silent, (with the exception of the clock, the tap and the dishwasher). The next thing I knew there was a body landing on my stomach. If that weren't bad enough the body was emitting a high pitched squeal in the process. As I tried to gather up the wind Laura had knocked out of me I felt the bed dip and the kid was dragged off me. She was squirming and giggling and the bed was bouncing up and down, and I was just starting to breathe again when she managed to squirm away from Ranger and crawled on top of me again.

"It's time to wake up!" she squealed as a pair of mocha latte hands came around her waist and pulled her back away. "Mummy! Help me!"

As I pulled myself into a sitting position, giving a slight cough as my lungs protested, I saw not Ranger on the bed with me and Laura, but Lester. _Cripes!_ I scrambled to gather the sheet up to cover my nakedness and they both laughed. "LESTER!" I yelled, backing away from them. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP HERE?!"

Wiping his eyes of the tears that had come with his laughter he managed to stutter out something about breakfast and Ranger and the kitchen. Thankfully, he had the common courtesy to avert his eyes, while keeping a tight grip on my daughter. They both could not stop giggling and I was having a hard time finding my voice when, for the second time this morning the house went silent. I felt a familiar tingling down my spine and turned to face my fiancé. He had his 200-wat smile in place as I stared at him in open mouthed horror. "Morning Babe," he said simply.

"Ricardo Carlos Manoso!" I screamed at him, jumping from the bed and wrapping the sheet around me toga style. "At what point in your thought process did you feel it was appropriate to send your brother up here with my daughter to wake me, knowing full and well that I would be completely, buck, stark naked?"

"Our daughter," he corrected me, taking a step forward as I stormed toward him.

"Mummy, why is you nakey?" came Laura's innocent voice from behind me as I prepared to lay a harsh hand to Ranger's gorgeous face. I groaned inwardly, knowing that Lester's laughter had just doubled in intensity. "Daddy was nakey when I waked him up 'smorning too." This time I groaned allowed and Lester gave a huge guffaw. I snapped my head around to glare at him, but it was useless, he was rolling about the bed in fits of giggles.

I sighed and laid my head on Ranger's shoulder. He was laughing too, I knew from the way his shoulder kept bouncing slightly. "We got hot last night, that's all Loza."

Another loud burst of laughter emitted from Lester at this comment and I could have sworn I heard him mutter, "Oh so hot!"

"I'm going for a shower," I told them all and stalked from the room trailing the sheet behind me.

When I arrived in the kitchen half an hour later I found bacon, eggs and toast on a plate waiting for me. I sank into a seat next to Ranger and practically drooled. There was a glass of orange juice next to my plate, with all the pulp strained out of it, I hate the pulp. Ranger put a hand on my thigh, tracing small circles with his thumb and I slowly dragged my drooling face away from the delicious food sitting in front of me. When my eyes reached Ranger's however, I found myself drooling even more. He grinned and swiped away the small line that had made its way out of my mouth and down my chin. "Are you gonna eat or sit there drooling?" he asked, amusement clear in his voice.

"Eat," I half whispered dazedly. He grinned and gently pushed my head so that I was staring at my plate again.

"Last I checked, Bomber, to eat you actually had to pick it up, rather than sit there staring," Lester chuckled from across the table. My eyes flickered to him for a brief moment before I picked up my cutlery and devoured the whole delicious offering. As I chewed my last bite Laura climbed up on my lap, straddling my thighs so that we were face to face.

"Daddy said that you and I are going for drives today. To visit people," she stated.

I shot a glance at Ranger who nodded and held up a wad of envelopes. "What are they?" I questioned suspiciously.

"You said you wanted an engagement party, Babe. I took the pleasure of organising it this morning with the Squirt."

"Did you really?" I asked, looking from my daughter to her father and back. "Do I get to know when it is or am I just gonna be surprised like you did this morning with Waldo's Wake-Up Call?" I jabbed my thumb in the direction of Lester as I said it and they all laughed.

"No, Babe, you'll know by the time your first visit is over," he told me, leaning over to place a tender kiss on my lips before pecking Laura's forehead as well.

"You're not gonna tell me yourself?" I pleaded, making puppy dog eyes at him.

Chuckling a bit, he tweaked my nose. "Nope, you'll just have to steal the invitation from the first person and read it, or you could ask."

Ten minutes later Laura was strapped into her booster seat in the back with Flipsey strapped into the seat beside her. Her backpack was in the unused foot space and the envelopes we stacked on the front passenger's seat just taunting me. "Do you know when it is?" I asked my little girl as I turned onto the street. In the rear view mirror I saw her make a locking motion on her lips. "Sworn to secrecy, huh?" She nodded enthusiastically and giggled when I shook my head in despair. "Do you want to have a McHappy meal for lunch?" Again she nodded enthusiastically. "If you tell me when and where it is I get you a Happy meal. Would you like that?"

At that moment my cell phone rang. I pulled to the side of the road, doing the responsible thing, and answered. "Yellow?"

"Don't bribe the child, Babe, it looks bad," Ranger told me.

I glared at the phone for a moment. "How?" It was all I needed to say, he knew exactly what I was asking.

"Barrette, Babe."

Hanging up I shot a hateful glance at the pretty hair-slide Ranger had fastened in Laura's hair this morning.

"Its on Saturday," Laura told me before bursting out in giggles.

The phone rang again, and I noted Ranger's number on the display. "It may look bad, but it works," I chuckled.

"Put the squirt on the phone," he deadpanned.

Still chuckling I held the phone out to Laura, "Daddy wants to talk to you."

_As always, I encourage you to drop me a line. I love hearing from each and every one of you and I try to reply, but sometimes the gratitude is just beyond words. Quick hit the button!!_


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**_You girls should really be grateful for my lack of sleep at the moment, because if it weren't for that, you wouldn't have this chapter. I wrote it early this morning between fishing my cat off the screen and vomiting, but don't worry, I'm pretty sure I didn't contaminate the story. Here it is, I hope you like_**

**Chapter 15**

Ella arrived early Saturday morning to help with the catering. As usual she had insisted on preparing most, if not all, of the food, not that I was complaining, I would never pass up an opportunity to pay tribute to her fabulous skills. I f there was such a thing as too much of a good thing then they could go and get sat upon, because I would never have enough of Ella's cooking.

Laura had been employed as kitchen helper for the day. Her duties included, but were not limited to, licking spoons, bowls and anything else with something delicious on it, sampling one of everything as soon as it was cool enough to eat, at Ella's insistence, and putting dirty dishes in the sink once they had been sufficiently licked down.

I was also in the kitchen, preparing small bits and pieces that I could manage, because, let's face it, while I had learned to cook nothing could compare to Ella. I spent a fair amount of time with my hands submerged in soapy water, against Ella's wishes. She said that I should be relaxing. Admittedly, though, I think I was about on par with Laura in the taste testing department.

Ranger was in the garden setting up tables and chairs with the help of Lester, who had also arrived early in the morning to help out. Part of the reason I had insisted on doing the washing up was because the window over the sink gave me a perfect view of my fiancé as he lugged tables here and there. His back was mostly turned to me, giving me the pleasure of gazing upon his ass. The question was, was he aware of my eyes on his posterior, or was there motion completely unconsciously had my money on the former as he turned to meet my gaze briefly and winked.

By one o'clock Laura had abandoned the delicious smells of the kitchen to shadow her father. I had to smile at the sight. Ranger was crouched fiddling with the cords, plugs, buttons and switches of the sound system; Laura stood next to him, listening intently as he explained what everything was for. After a while he stod, picked her up and placed her on the raised platform, lowering the microphone to her level. He told her something and retreated over to the sound desk to fidde some more.

I saw that Laura's mouth was moving. _Sound check_, I smiled. A few more moments passed with no sound before Ranger came back and fiddled with the mic. There was a high pitched squeal of the feedback which was closely followed by the high pitched squeal of my daughter as she put her hands over her ears. By this time Ella was at my side gazing out at the scene with me; we both laughed. Ranger did some quick tweaking and all of a sudden I could hear Laura's voice as if she were standing right in front of me.

"Daddy, that was loud!" she giggled, doing a little jig on the small stage.

"I know, Squirt," came Ranger's voice as he leaned forward to beckon her back toward him. "That's why we need to do checks. I need you to talk into the microphone now so I can adjust the volume."

Standing back directly infront of the mic now, she asked, "What do I say?" Ranger said something that the microphone didn't pick up because he was once again returning to the sound desk. "Okay," Laura replied and she started singing 'Twinkle, Twinkle' "How's that Daddy?" she asked when she was done.

"She is so precious!" Ella informed me, not for the first time. "I can't get over how well they interact."

"Nor can I," I confessed, sharing a smile with Ranger across the garden for just a moment before he gave Laura another instruction.

"Mummy, can you hear me?" Laura asked, her voice a little louder than normal. I laughed and nodded. There was another, instruction from Ranger. "Daddy says he loves you." This time she was back to her normal voice. I grinned and blew a kiss his way. To all of our amusement, however, Lester jumped in front of Ranger and made a gesture as if catching the kiss and putting it in his pocket. As we all laughed, Laura put her little hands on her hips, a clear stance she had learnt from me. "Uncle Lester!" she admonished. "That kiss was for Daddy, not you!" Now you give it to him!" Lester made a face that read clearly of disgust even from this distance, before giving a shrug a puckering up. As he leaned toward Ranger we heard Laura again. "NO! Not that one! The one in your pocket!"

Quickly leaning away, he made a show of wiping his forehead in relief. He then dug in his pocket for a moment, pulling out a handful of change and searching meticulously through it. Laura's giggles came through the speakers Lester picked up the invisible kiss between his thumb and forefinger and held it gingerly out to Ranger. It was obvious he was laughing as he held out a hand to receive it. As soon as Lester 'dropped' it into his palm he clenched his fist and held it up for me to see. He kissed his fist then, and shoved into his own pocket for safe keeping.

There were tears in my eyes I was laughing so hard and I had to sit down before my knees gave out on me. Ella joined me on the floor, but not before swiping two cookies from the tray on the bench. "Is that really the same Ranger I left behind all those years ago? Or did you switch him while I was away?" I asked, munching on my triple choc-chip cookie with delight.

"Sweetie, I swear, it's like you've cast a spell on him. He's an entirely different person. I haven't seen him smile in so long, I thought his face might crack when he finally did."

0o0o0o0o0

Ranger tapped the microphone a couple of times to get everybody's attention. Omigod! He was gonna make a speech! I threw back the rest of my wine and pulled Laura into my lap as I sat on one of the garden chairs not far from the stage. Everyone fell silent and gathered around.

"On behalf of myself and my beautiful bride-to-be I'd just like to thank you all for sharing in this celebration with us." There was a round of applause all around and Ranger waited for it to die down before continuing. "As always, my brother has something to say on this issue," all eyes went to Lester, who was gesturing for the mic, "but before I let him commandeer the spotlight, I'd like to invite my fiancé, Stephanie, and our daughter, Laura up on stage. I have something to share with them."

I was reluctant at first, refusing to move from my seat and holding tight to Laura, but it was no use. I felt a pair of forceful hands thrusting me off the and onto the stage and when I looked back to see it was, found Lula standing there, hands on hips, her don't-mess-with-this face in place. I smiled and her face broke into a grin too before she shooed me over to my man.

"I just thought," Ranger explained as he heaved Laura up with his free hand, "that now was as good a time as any to share with you something that I have been working on for the past couple of weeks. My 'band of Merrymen' as you so affectionately named them, have probably noticed a lack of productivity on my part, and this is why. Bobby." Bobby came to the side of the stage and handed him a large something draped in a sheet. "Now, you have to remember that I haven't pick up a paint brush since high school," he began, setting the something on the ready easel . "So I didn't bother painting anything." There was a splatter of laughter around crowd at this comment. "You may have noticed the copious amount of photos that have been taken since your arrival; well, I took it upon myself, using every spare moment of my time at the office-."

"And steeling a whole heap of moments from the work he should have been doing!" Tank called

There was some more laughter, and Ranger nodded. "Yes, I admit, I've been a right old slacker, but," he turned back to me an d Laura, "I did it all for you. My girls." With that he pulled the sheet, unveiling the beautiful photo collage beneath.

In the very centre, blown up to a bit bigger than A4 size, was a black and white of Laura and myself, our foreheads touching, grinning at one another. All around this, set at jaunty angles were other photographs, these ones also in black and white. As I scrutinised each individual photo I saw that none of them had Ranger in them. There was me and Laura on the bed our first morning, Laura in Ranger's office with the boot polish streaks on her cheeks, me sitting contentedly at the counter in the seventh floor apartment, Laura and me lying on the grass in the park watching the clouds, Laura and I asleep on the couch clutching a picture book, the list went on and each individual photo was framed in either black or white card, alternating all the way around so that the only speck of colour on the entire canvas was the eyes of Laura and I in the feature photo. The vibrant blue identical in shade, but different in shape, stood out vastly against the surrounding greys. It was truly a work of art fit for the Louvre as far as I was concerned.

"You're not in any of these," I whispered, finally finding my voice and dragging my eyes away from the magnificent blue portals. He had been waiting for several minutes by this point and the microphone was hanging forgotten by his side.

"Of course not," he replied, his voice equally soft.

"What are they saying?!" I heard Grandma Mazur holler from somewhere. "I can't hear what he's saying!" Someone turn up the sound!"

Ranger and I gazed at eachother for few silent moments, laughing on the inside, before he brought the mic back up. "I wanted you to see the beauty you have brought into my life, Babe. They say a picture paints a thousand words, well I have well over thirty here and they don't even come close to explaining how I feel about the two of you. I love you both more than words will ever be able to demonstrate, and I hope this reminds you of that fact every day for the rest of our lives.

Tears were once again welling in my eyes and there was a huge lump in my throat as Ranger replaced the microphone on the stand and pulled me to him and Laura. There was a collective "Aww," from the crowd and one lone "Kiss her!" from Lula, which both Ranger and I obliged, planting noisy kisses on either side of Laura's face. The aww-ing continued on the most part with a few bursts of laughter. The flashes of cameras accompanied by shouts of "Hold it!" and "Just one more!" caused us to hold the pose for several minutes before we dissolved into our own laughter.

"Cute," came Lester's voice, magnified a few dozen times, "Very cute, don't you think?" There was another round of applause in agreement before he continued. "I just have one problem with that present," he paused, letting everyone speculate. "I never got anything like that from you, Ricky. All you ever got for me was a BB gun and a wood burning kit."

"That's because you're not beautiful enough," I chuckled. "He only does photo collages for beautiful people."

"Here that folks?" Lester addressed the crowd again. "I'm not beautiful enough for a photo collage!"

There was another collective "Aww" from the crowd and we heard Grandma scream, "I'll make a photo collage of you Hunky! But it won't be of your face, if you know what I mean!"

Over the uproarious laughter that caused I called, "Could someone please remove the wine bottle from my grandmother?" It took a few minutes for everyone to settle down again once Tank had forcibly removed the wine bottle from Grandma's grips.

"On a serious note, though," Lester said, drawing attention back to the stage once more. "I just wanted to congratulate my older brother Ricky and his future wife Steph on their engagement. And may your life be like toilet paper; long and useful!" Everything now said, he raised his glass in a toast and everyone followed suit, well, except Grandma, but she'd had enough already, don't you think?

A bell rang from somewhere in the crowd and I heard Ella scream, "DINNER!" and just like that everyone was seated at the tables, where dinner, it seems, was waiting. Ranger, Laura and I took a little longer to our seat, taking another look at the collage before following.

_Why did I ever doubt him?_

**_By this stage in the story I shouldn't have to remind you to keep the reviews coming, but I will anyway._**


	16. Chapter 16

_Woo hoo! My first post as a legal adult! Aren't you proud? My birthday was two days ago and I have been partying non stop, I went straight from my own to my friends and well, sleep is lacking a bit, but I managed to get a chapter out for my devoted fans grins. Not only that, it has offically been three days since I have kissed porcelain, driven the bus, given an offering to the gurgling god, made a technicolour yawn or anyother euphemism I can think of for vomiting. Cause to celebrate or what? Anyway, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!_

**Chapter 16 **

It was getting late, not overly late, but late for a three year old. It wasn't that she seemed to be tired, it was that she should have been in bed by now. I myself was dead tired and wanted nothing more than to climb in between those luxurious sheets upstairs. But I was stuck out here, trailing my overly enthusiastic daughter as she picked up trash. I was exceptionally sluggish and she kept having to run back to me in order to put her rubbish in the bag I carried. Ranger was packing away sound equipment with the help of a few Merry Men over by the stage and I could feel a set of eyes on me.

Most of the guests had left by now, given the hour, and considering Laura's age, but there were still a few hangers on. I glanced around as Laura dumped a few serviettes in the garbage bag I was holding out to her.

"Whatcha lookin' for?" she asked, standing with her hands behind her back, looking up at me.

After a moment I moved my gaze to her cuteness and smiled. "Nothing sweetie, I just had a feeling someone was watching me."

She pointed past my shoulder toward the house and said, "It's him, he hasn't looked away in a long time."

I spun on my heels, almost falling over as the movement, compounded by an abundance of champagne coursing through my blood and a need for sleep, made me dizzy. And there, standing in the half light from the windows of the kitchen, stood Joseph Morelli, a slight smile on his face. He raised a hand slightly and waved and I returned the favour, not a little unsure of myself. When I had passed by the Police Station earlier in the week to give him his invitation, he had been out on a job, so I left it with the desk clerk.

He hadn't actually RSVPed that he'd be coming, and I hadn't noticed him before now, so it made me wonder how long he had been here. It hadn't been my idea to invite Morelli, he had simply been in the stack of invitations handed to me by Ranger; it was nice that he didn't want to exclude him though. As Laura continued to skip about picking up the trash I simply stood staring at the man, a little scared. He closed the distance between us and pulled me into a friendly hug.

"It's good to see you, Stephanie," he told me, holding me at arm's length so he could scrutinise my features. He took in every inch of me, his smile growing with each measure. "You look well; better than I've ever seen you."

"It's good to see you to," I said quietly, not sure of much at that moment. "How have you been?"

"Good," he nodded, "We were all rather frightened for you when you disappeared, but eventually, the strain just got too much and we had to push you to the edges of our mind in order to actually function, but you were always there, just beyond conscious thought. Then when I heard you were back in town my heart soared; you were alive, and you were well. I was the happiest I'd been in years, until the news of your engagement. I knew that I didn't have a chance with you anymore, especially after that particularly nasty break up, but part of my heart deflated when the desk clerk handed me that envelope." He was rambling, he wasn't looking me in the eye, he was watching Ranger. "I want to be happy for you, but its like betraying my heart. I can't do it."

I was getting scared now, my senses were prickling in my sleepy state, they were trying to tell me something. Laura came skipping over with two big handfuls of rubbish for the bag I had forgotten I was carrying. She stopped a few feet away and dropped everything she was holding to the ground. Her mouth was hanging open and I was confused. Had she picked up on the vibes that my senses were struggling to communicate to me?

All of a sudden Joe's hands were on my upper arms and her was shaking me hard. His fingers were digging into the exposed skin of my arms as he gritted out, "Why him, Stephanie? What does he have that I lack? What? Answer me Stephanie!"

I was speechless, this was the last thing I had expected. I thought he understood that he wasn't right for me, that he would never be right for me. All I could think as he shook me was, _huh?_ And then I heard an exclamation that reefed me from my stupor.

"LET MY MUMMY GO!" It was Laura. I looked down, still being jerked about by Morelli's forceful hands, to find her pulling on his trouser leg. "LET HER GO!"

My eyes widened in shock at what happened next. He stopped his assault on me for a brief moment in order to propel her through the air a few feet by catching her chest with his swinging forearm. I saw red, I didn't care if he was a cop, or that we used to be friends, he had just physically hurt my pride and joy. No more Miss Nice Mummy. Before I knew what I was doing my clenched fist was connecting with his nose with all the strength I could find, fuelled by adrenalin. There was a satisfying crunch and I stood there in a haze, watching him stumble back away clutching his face. I was breathing heavy and my hearing was muffled, I was barely aware of the hurt cries coming from my daughter as I glared at Joe.

Suddenly, everything was engulfed in a swarm of black. Several men had grabbed Joe and were leading him, none too gently, toward the exit. There were hands placed softly on my shoulders as a familiar face filled my vision. Another hand was rubbing circles on my back. I stared into the eyes of the face for a long moment, not sure what I was seeing or who it was until my thoughts calmed and I recognised Lester's concerned expression.

"Are you okay Steph?" he asked, his brow furrowing ever so slight.

"Laura," I uttered, becoming completely aware of the situation for the first time. I tried to move away to find my daughter and make sure she was alright, but Lester's grip tightened on my shoulders. "_Laura_," I said more insistently.

"Are you alright?" he repeated. "Did he hurt you?"

The answer was yes, but I needed to make sure Laura was alright, so I couldn't let him know. "I'm fine Lester, I just need to see my Laura!"

Lester gave me a critical stare as if very much doubting my answer (and rightfully so), but he simple nodded and released my shoulders, pointing over to where Laura was huddled into Ranger's shoulder. Her small form was shaking violently from crying as I hurried over. Ranger's eyes locked with mine as I approached reading my silent question perfectly. "Just a little winded from the landing and a whole lot frightened by the entire encounter. Are you okay?" I didn't trust my voice not to crack at this point. I had to stay strong and confident for Laura, so I simply nodded. He searched my face for a long moment as he continued to rock the child back and forth, muttering softly in Spanish. He must have understood my intentions because he gave a short nod and pulled me into his side. I found myself instantly calmed as I nuzzled into his shoulder and breathed in his scent; I didn't have to worry about anything, I had Ranger to take care of us now.

I let the tears I didn't know I was repressing fall from my eyes as I brought a hand up to caress Laura's back. She stiffened slightly at the touch, but Ranger reassured her that it was only Mummy and that everything was alright. She through her arm around my neck and we simply stood there for an indeterminate length of time, reassuring ourselves that each other person was still whole.

_I hope to get back into the habit of writing regularly now, in the mean time though, I'd love to hear from you._


	17. Chapter Seventeen

_I'm sorry if it seems to be going slowly, I made that realisation as I finished typing this chapter, but I NEED to get back in the habit of writing daily before I lose my mind. Thanks always for the great reviews. Here's the latest instalment. Enjoy!_

**Chapter Seventeen**

I awoke slowly the next morning aware of the slow and gentle breathing of my three year old snuggled into my side, as well as the dull ache that plagued my body. It took me only a few moments to remember the events of the previous night and slid quietly from the bed, careful not to disturb Laura's small, sleeping form.

Closing the bathroom door softly behind me, I took a long survey of myself in the mirror as I undressed for my shower. The only resultant indicator of last night's encounter with Morelli were the bruises on my upper arms, unmistakeably in the shape of hands, from where he had grabbed me and dug his fingers in. I lightly touched my fingertips to the discolouration testing the soreness. A dizziness washed over me as I suddenly realised that I had let him do this to me, and that if it hadn't been for Laura and the Rangemen nearby, it probably would have been a lot worse.

I had two options when I felt my knees weaken with that thought. Option One: allow myself to fall to the flor like a sack of potatoes. Option Two: sit down fast before option one happened against my will. I chose option two, lowering my ass to the lid of the toilet and hiding my face in my hands. The moisture I found on my cheeks startled me a little, I hadn't noticed the tears leaking from my eyes, and I was damned if I was going to allow Morelli to affect me in this way. I sniffed forcefully and surged to my feet, turning on the shower and stepping under the warm spray.

When I emerged some time later I found one very sexy man sitting on the lid of the toilet. Ranger was fully dressed in dark jeans and a navy blue button-through. His gaze roamed over my body as I wrapped it in a big fluffy towel. He paused a moment at my arms before locking eyes with me, a silent question playing just below the surface. I gave an affirmative nod and his entire body stiffened in anger.

"I'm okay," I assured him, running a gently hand over his furrowed brow and feeling the tension there lift a little. "There's no lasting damage."

"This is my own fault," Ranger said through clenched teeth, and I noticed that everything else f his was clenched tightly as well. "It was my idea to incite him. I should have known something like this would happen."

I quickly lay a finger across his full lips, silencing his rambled apology. "Ranger, it may have been you who thought o invite him, and you who wrote out the invitation, but I was the one who delivered it to him. It's not all your fault. It was a joint effort."

"But I put both you and Laura in danger!" he protested, "I shouldn't have-."

This time I prevented the end of his sentence by kissing his mouth. It took a moment for him to respond to my touch, but when he did he was pulling me, still damp, into his lap and discarding my towel. I caught his hand as it inched it's way south of the border (down Mexico way) and positioned it on my hip instead as I ended the kiss with a light nip at his lower lip. "If you hadn't invited him he would have eventually found out through the burg grapevine anyway, and I'm pretty sure his reaction would have been a lot worse."

HE gave a short nod before claiming my lips again. His hands played lightly over my belly for a moment before travelling north to caress Canada (well when you consider where Mexico is anatomically...) Lightly kneading my breasts in time with the swiping motion of his tongue over mine as he deepened the kiss. I had my fingers tangled in his hair and was leaning into his touch when suddenly he was wrapping the towel back around me and lowering me to the floor. "Three," he whispered, running a hand through his hair to counter act the works of my own fingers. "Two." I grabbed another, smaller towel and applied it to my hair. "One."

There was a soft knock on the bathroom door, followed by a small voice calling me. Ranger gave me a smug little smile and I repaid him with an eye roll. "Yeah Laura-girl?" I called, picking up the panties from the pile of clothes Ranger had brought in for me and slipping them on under the towel I wore.

"I woked up and you wasn't there," she said plaintively from the other side of the door. "And then I couldn't find Daddy. I getted scared."

"Daddy's in here with me, sweetie," I said, opening the door. "He was bringing me clothes 'cause I forgot to grab some." I picked her up, my towel drifting south a little, and placed her on the vanity counter next to the sink. "How are you feeling?"

It had taken a long time to calm her down after the Joe incident. She was sobbing so much that she had made herself physically sick, which only added to her distress. Her ribs were sore from the force of her landing and the lack of air she had experienced for several moments after that and the retching and heaving she had driven herself to did nothing to help that. Ranger saw how stressed I was getting from seeing her in such a state and not being able to calm her and stepped in to take over. Up until that moment, he had been on the sidelines, observing, learning, offering moral support for me; being that he had an immense lack of experience in that area.

He had moved from the armchair he had been sitting in to where I sat with a coughing Laura on the couch and motioned for me to stand up. I hesitated a moment, not wanting to leave my baby like this, but he gave my hand a reassuring squeeze and I complied. He quickly filled the spaced I had left empty and put a firm hand on the back of Laura's head. She stopped coughing and heaving and retching and gave a small gasp that quickly turned into a hiccough. Gently, he pushed her so that she was doubled over, hugging her knees, and brought his other hand up to move in long, slow, smooth strokes up and down her back.

For the second time that evening he was whispering to her in Spanish and I was wishing that I knew what he was saying, just to satisfy my own curiosity, but I had been too tired to ask at the time, besides, his ministrations were working. Her breathing was coming evenly now and Ranger gently removed the pressure of his hands, switching to gently rubbing her pack as she stayed in the position he had put her in. He shot a glance at me, searching for my approval of his actions, just as I let out a wide yawn that had been threatening ever since Ranger took over.

Giving me a small smile, he told me to go to bed, assuring me that he would put Laura through her bed routine before joining me. As it turns out Laura had been afraid to be on her own and managed to convince Ranger to allow her to sleep with us. I didn't mind, I wasn't entirely sure I would have slept properly without her anyway.

I was pulled back to the present by a hand on my forearm. I followed up the arm with my eyes until I met Ranger's face. "Are you okay?" he asked, "A real vacant look just came over your face and you didn't respond to either of us calling you."

Giving my head a quick shake, I smiled at them both in turn before answering him. "I'm fine. Just got lost in thought I suppose."

Ranger chuckled. "It's not hard to do in your head. Make sure you take a compass next time so you don't get lost so easily."

"Fat lot of good that's gonna do," I mumbled, pulling on my short denim shorts. "Compasses only confuse me."

He shook his head as another chuckle escaped his and pulled me into a hug. I pulled a face at Laura over his shoulder and she giggled. Standing on the vanity now, she reached out and put her small hands on his shoulders. Ranger let go of me and, in one swift motion, had Laura sitting on his shoulders giggling all the way.

"Come on, Squirt, let's leave your mother to finish getting dressed." With that he placed a quick kiss on my open mouth and exited to the tune of Laura's musical laughter


	18. Chapter 18

_Here it is. Take it, it's yours. That's all I have to say at the moment. Enjoy... maybe..._

**Chapter 18**

"Surely someone else can handle it," Ranger was saying into the phone as I came downstairs from bathroom, all ready for the day. "No, it's Sunday, I'm not on call. Not only that, Steph and Laura are still a bit shaken up from last night." He was standing in the hall, phone to ear with Laura sitting on the side table next to him dangling her legs. "I told you already, get someone else to deal with it. I'm spending the day with my family."

_Family,_ that was a new word to consider. I had thought of many other words to describe what we had, but I had never once remembered the word family. It had been so long since I had last felt I was part of one, even with Laura, that it had been completely stricken from my memory. Sure I thought about it every now and again if I saw a certain display at the store, or ad on TV, but other than that I had just absorbed myself in Laura.

I took the necessary steps to be right next to Ranger and placed a light hand on his forearm. He turned a smile on me and I returned it with a look of curiosity. Shaking his head, he laid a hand on my cheek for reassurance. "No, I absolutely cannot come in today!" he exclaimed into the phone. I smiled and took it from his hands, putting it to my ear instead as he watched.

"Who am I talking to?" I asked, staring at the amusement in those dark chocolate brown eyes of his.

"Uh, hi, Bombshell," came Bobby's awkward reply. "Did I wake you?"

"No you did not, Bobby, I was already awake. What seems to be the problem?"

There was a moment of silence before his reply came, during which time I moved my eyes to Laura, jiggling on her perch. I laid a hand on her leg to stop the motion and she mouthed that she was hungry. "What were you doing already awake?" Bobby asked as I smiled down at my daughter.

"I woke up, is that such a hard concept to grasp? And don't change the subject. Why do you want my fiancé?" Ranger's eyes, which had been boring into me the entire time, filled with love and compassion at the word and he placed a line of kisses from my shoulder to the nape of my neck. Laura was giggling at the spectacle and I was pretty sure Bobby could have taken a wild guess at what was going on.

"A client is refusing to talk to anyone but the boss man himself. There's apparently some new development with her account and she needs to make adjustments."

I looked over at Ranger in all his deliciousness and rolled my eyes. Three guesses why she wanted Ranger and only Ranger. Helping Laura down from the table, I lead her into the kitchen to get some breakfast into her while I continued my conversation with Bobby. Ranger trailed after us and leaned against the counter while I fixed a bowl of frosted flakes each for me and Laura. "Let me talk to her," I said, taking a random glance at the man of my dreams. "We'll sort this out woman to woman."

Ranger was giving me a look that was a mixture between amusement and shock and I could sense Bobby silently debating his dilemma on the other end of the phone. "Do it Brown," Ranger said, loud enough to be heard down the line and with a little laughter in his voice.

I heard a shuffling and jostling and a _very_ perky woman came on the line. "Hi Pumpkin! It's me! Listen you really have to have a talk to your men, they're really mean!" I took a moment to stare at the phone before deciding to put it on speaker. "Honey? You still there? Hello-o?" The look of shock that came over Ranger's face at the sound of the woman's voice was off putting, and did I detect a hint of a blush? Makes you think, doesn't it?

"Hello, this is Stephanie Plum, Ric's fiancé, who is this?" I asked a little suspiciously.

"Stephanie?" she trilled excitedly. "_The_ Stephanie? Oh, I've heard so much about you! You're all Ricky ever talks about!"

My eyes locked on Ranger's as he set down a glass of juice each in front of me and our daughter. He was beginning to look like a deer caught in the headlights and I actually saw him gulp. "Is that so?" I asked, my gaze not leaving Ranger's as he slowly took a seat across from me. "And who, may I ask, are you?"

She gave a high girly giggle that sent shivers down my spine. "Silly, I'm Ricky's wife!"

I stopped dead, my spoon halfway to my mouth, and felt the colour drain from my face. You'd think that that would be something you could only see, but I felt it. It accompanies the huge rush like ice that fell to the pit of my stomach. I couldn't move; couldn't breathe. I was deathly afraid that I had actually died, and then I realised that if I was dead the pain in my chest that just kept winding tighter and tighter as if it were the rag that Val and I used to use to spin sticks when we were kids, would have stopped and I would floating on a cloud, wearing a halo and playing the harp. A great urge to vomit washed over me like the tide on the sand during a violent storm and I dropped my spoon. The clatter it made as it hit the table was the only sound on either end of the phone, with the exception of Laura, who was still munching her cereal.

Ranger's hand came over to caress mine, but I shook it away. _How could he do this to me?_ After everything he had said, promised AND done. The whole time he had been married? I wanted to scream. Not words, I just wanted to let rip an almighty ear splitting scream. But I had to stay strong for Laura. Laura was all that mattered. She must not be exposed to the kind of raw emotion that I wanted to let loose on Ranger at that moment. _He had lied to me_. I had to get out.

Hastily I scraped my chair back from the table and ran upstairs to the bedroom. I shoved a change of clothes in an overnight bag for me before moving to Laura's room and grabbing two sets of overalls and t-shirts, some pull-ups, a book or two and finally FLipsey. I wasn't sure where we were going to go, but I wanted to be prepared just in case we didn't come back tonight. With the way I was feeling toward Ranger at the moment it was a big possibility. As I stormed back down the stairs and reefed Laura away from her half finished frosted flakes I noticed that Ranger was right behind me.

Laura was exclaiming about not having finished as I strapped her into her booster seat. I told her I would stop somewhere and buy her some breakfast and she settled down. When I closed the car door and started heading around to the driver's door to get in Ranger once again laid a hand on my arm, but I once again shook him off. All I wanted to do was get away from him for a while so I could let the threatening tears flow and maybe think about what I had gotten not only myself but Laura into. _Fuck!_ I had been so stupid! I should never have come back! I had allowed a huge opening for the hurt to get in. I had myself and my daughter vulnerable. And Laura had just been getting used to the idea of having a Daddy.

I peeled out of the driveway and down the street, not looking back. Eventually I pulled into the car park of the Tasty Pastry and sat silently crying, my head on the steering wheel. How could my life get any worse? First I'm practically abused by Joe, then I find out that my fiancé is married._ Great one Stephanie. BLOODY BRILLIANT!_

I jumped when there was a knock on the car window right beside my head.

_I had plans of continuing this chapter, but I'm falling asleep at the keyboard, so you're left with a Cliff. Review and let me know who you think should be the window tapper. If you're lucky I may get something up later if Real Life allows me. For now though, I'm off to bed._


	19. Chapter Nineteen

_Well, it took a while for me to decide, that and the fact that I've been too busy to write (the horror!), but here it is. Ready for your eyes to gaze upon it in reverance... okay that was a little over the top. Thank you to all those who have reviewed previous chapters. Here's the latest. Enjoy._

_**Previously on Given a Moment**_

_I jumped when there was a knock on the car window right beside my head_

**Chapter Nineteen**

Laura squealed in the back seat and I turned to look at her, ignoring the tapper for the time being. It had sounded like she was in pain, but she seemed perfectly fine, except that she had a wide eyes fearful look on her face. Her eyes were trained on the driver's side window, so I slowly turned to see who it was. I was shocked to find Joseph Morelli standing there. A bag of donuts in one hand, two cups of coffee in the other, and a sorrowful smile on his face.

Rolling down the window, I wiped the tears from my face and fixed him with a glare. "What do you want, Joe?" I seethed.

He crouched down so that we were eye to eye and handed me one of the coffees. "I'm really sorry about last night, Cupcake. I really had no intention of handling you like that when I set out... but, you just frustrate me so much! I honestly thought that when you got engaged that you would tell me yourself. Not just leave an invitation at the front desk. Do you know how much that hurt me?"

"I had intended on giving you the news in person, Morelli, but you have to understand that I had a heap of people to see that day, and it was already short notice. I didn't think you would mind all that much." I took a cautious sip of my coffee and eyed the paper bag he was in possession of.

"Would you like a doughnut?" he asked, smiling knowingly.

"No," I told him, "I want you to explain why you did what you did. It hurt more than words can say. You did not just hurt me, but physically threw my daughter to the ground. It took hours to calm her down enough to start thinking about sleep!"

"I know that nothing I say will ever justify my actions. I was drunk, I was frustrated, I was... stupid. I really didn't mean for anything to happen." There was a long pause, and finally he gave a slight laugh. "If it helps Ranger's cronies beat me black and blue as soon as we were out of sight."

I took a moment to examine him, there wasn't a bruise or discolouration anywhere on him. When I met his eyes again he was smiling a bit. "Don't worry Cupcake, they do their job well, not one punch was landed where anyone would see."

"Don't call me Cupcake," I pleaded. "We both know that neither of us are the people we used to be, so let's not pretend."

Joe nodded solemnly and offered me the bag. I took a Boston Creme for me and a chocolate coated doughnut for Laura. She took it gratefully and within moments was covered in chocolate. I gave a short laugh at the sight before returning my attention to Morelli. "I really am sorry," he said, and I knew he was being honest with me. "What are you doing here? I thought you would still be at home with your man celebrating."

At the mention of Ranger I felt the tears well up again, but I wouldn't let them fall. I couldn't let them fall. I didn't want to talk to Joe about it. I didn't want to talk about it at all. I just wanted to forget about it and spend the day with my beautiful little girl. May be we would go to the zoo and laugh at the monkeys.

Morelli must have noticed the gleam in my eyes from the threatening tears or the anger flickering just behind them, because his next move was a quick shake of his head in disbelief. "What's happened Steph?" he asked, "You were the perfect family last night, now you're cringing at the mention of your fiancé's name." I sighed and returned my head to the steering wheel in a vain effort to collect the thoughts that where travelling a million miles an hour through my frazzled brain. "Why don't you tell me about it all over breakfast, there's a nice diner just down the road and I'm sure that kid of yours could probably live on chocolate and donuts, but she needs actual food."

I gave a little laugh and glanced back at my little girl. She was still in her pyjamas with chocolate smeared everywhere except nowhere and strapped into the booster seat, but there was a huge smile on her face as she licked chocolate from between her fingers. Giving a nod the head in agreement I turned the ignition on and buckled me seatbelt.

"So, where do we start?" I asked several minutes later, once we had ordered. I was digging in my bag for the wet ones I knew were in there somewhere so that I could clean off the excess chocolate. It was only seven o'clock, so thought it was okay to leave her in her pyjama's but she had an atrocious amount of chocolate on her face.

"The start I suppose. Why did you leave?" Joe was watching with interest as I wiped Laura's face, listening to her protests. She doesn't like when I wipe her face for her, it's almost as bad as when I try to get her to blow her nose... emphasis on the try.

"I found out I was pregnant," I said simply, handing the wet one to Laura so she could do her hands herself. "I knew it wasn't yours because we'd been separated for ages long and I'd had a cycle or two in that time. It had to be Ranger's and he had made it very clear to me that he did not want, or have room for a relationship. I debated with myself for about a month on what I should do and finally decided I had to leave. Not only to save my heart from the sure rejection, but to avoid the shame of my mother's wrath when she found out." I paused for a moment thinking of what to say next and Joe spoke.

"You know I would have done anything to help you, even if it wasn't mine," he too paused for a moment, but it was obvious he was going to say more, so I waited. "Man, you had to go through all that by yourself. It's hard on someone going through a pregnancy with a full support team."

"I had Lester," I explained, "And Dad was always just a phone call away."

"What do you mean you had Lester? Lester Santos? As in Ranger's guy? He was here. I saw him. He was bringing in slackers." Joe's brow was furrowed in confusion and I couldn't help but laugh at him.

"He got two days off a week that was total non contact time, sometimes he would come and visit me, catch me up on all the goss. Then when it got close to my due date, he cashed in his vacation time and spent two months in my little two bedroom apartment. He was really a great help. I don't think I would have been able to cope without him and my Dad."

"Why Santos?" he asked, genuine curiosity creeping into his features.

"Ranger's brother," I said simply, checking Laura's efforts and taking the cloth from her hands.

He was laughing at me now, as if I had made some huge joke. "No seriously, Steph; why Santos? Was he a good friend? Maybe you'd gotten close over a surveillance shift?"

I shook my head briefly, then amended myself. "He was a good friend, he was always there for me no matter what, as were all of Ranger's men, but he is also Ranger's brother."

"Steph, honey, you realise they have different surnames, don't you?"

This time I nodded. "He changed his name a while ago."

"Uh, why?"

Shrugging my shoulders slightly, I leaned back so that the waitress could set our plates on the table. I breathed in the delightful smell of freshly cooked bacon and eggs accompanied by two slices of toast and a glass of orange juice. Laura was staring at her pancakes with drool sliding down her chin and Joe was laughing again. "Like mother, like daughter," he muttered shaking his head as my phone rang.

The read out clearly stated that it was Lester's cell "Hey there gorgeous!" I exclaimed, forking some egg into my mouth. I didn't want to appear as if anything was wrong.

"Hey yourself, Doubty McJump-to-conclusions. What are you doing?"

"He called you didn't he?" I asked around a mouthful of bacon.

"Yeah Bomber, and he wants you to know that the woman means nothing to him. Not only that, she is off our Christmas card lists." He chuckled a little at his comment. "I've wanted a legitimate reason to scratch her off the list for the past decade at least. She really shits me off."

I felt my mouth drop open. "At least a decade?" I asked in disbelief. "You mean you knew about her and you still urged me to come back to Trenton to hook up with Ranger?"

"What do you mean I knew about her?" Lester asked, confusion evident in his voice. "Of course I knew about her! She's -," there was a huge roaring of static in my ear that lasted several seconds. "How could I-," more static.

"Les?" I asked, a little louder than I normally would have, partly to hear myself over the rushing in my ear, and partly to try and get across the static which was evidently only on my end, what are the odds? "You're breaking up... Les? I didn't catch tha-." But we were cut off. I sighed and closed the phone. I could no longer stomach even to look at the food on my plate. Lester had known the entire time! He was half the reason I had returned, and he had known the entire time that Ranger was already taken. I just wanted to curl up and die.

Lester had convinced me that this was the right thing to do, knowing that little detail the entire time. And why hadn't Ranger told me previously? Surely he could have brought it up in the years we spent together before I left. And why the fuck didn't he wear his wedding ring? He didn't have the excuse of not wanting to wear jewellery because of his line of work, because he always had that damn earring in. Why had he proposed?

_Thank you so much for reading. I can't guarantee my next update for a while, given that I'm trying to get my life in order, what with University coming up at a great rate of knots and I just got my hands on a copy of Plum Lucky (Release dates are delayed out here in Oz.) So I will be reading and organising, unless I have an absolutely brilliant inspiration. If all goes well I shall have a great chapter for you mid next week. Fingers crossed. In the mean time let me in n your thoughts._


	20. Chapter 20

_Well, it's not exactly mid-week like I promised, but things got a bit hectic. I've taken every spare moment of my time to write this chapter, so I hope you enjoy it._

**Chapter 20**

My thoughts were returned to the table by Laura's squeals of, "NO! You can't! I won't let you!" Joe was reaching across with his knife and fork offering to cut up her pancakes for her. This reminded me of our first morning in Ranger's apartment, when Laura was refusing to allow Ranger to brush her hair. The tears sprang to my eyes again and I sniffed them back into non existence.

"Come on, Laura," Joe was saying, "I'll just cut it up for you."

"NO!" Laura exclaimed, pulling her plate further out of his reach.

"Why not?" he asked.

Laura gave a snort of exasperation and replied, "I doesn't know you." She pushed the plate toward me. "Mummy, you cut my pankies?"

"You could have let Joe cut them up sweetie," I tell her as I cut her 'pankies' into smaller pieces for her to manage.

"But I don't like Joe," she whispered none too softly.

I laughed at the mock hurt that played across Joe's face when I glanced at him. "I think you may have hurt his feelings, baby. What do you say?"

"Sorry, Joe." She did her pouty-lip thing to invoke his sympathy and he gave a laugh.

"That's alright, after last night you have every reason to not like me," he told her. "I am very sorry, though. I didn't mean to hurt you or your mum."

"Then why did you?" Laura asked. Always trust a kid to ask the questions on their mind. At her age she's not afraid, or probably even aware, of the possible consequences of asking such questions.

"I don't know why I did, kid. Sometimes grownups are overcome by emotions and the only way to get rid of them is to do something about them. I guess I probably should have found a better outlet for mine, huh?"

Laura nodded her agreement and stuck a forkful of pancake into her mouth just as my phone rang again. I rolled my eyes and flipped it open. "Where are you?" came Ranger's voice before I had even said hello.

"You know exactly where I am," I told him. "I know for a fact that there is a tracking device in my car."

"Babe, I have no idea where you are. The monitor for the device is at Rangeman and the men are refusing to tell me where you are."

"Maybe there's a good reason for that," I scathed, "Like the fact that I'm likely to kill you if I see you at the moment."

"Babe, you wouldn't do that in front of our daughter. Besides, you wouldn't be able to lay a hand on me." He was being arrogant now, and I don't think I would have been able to put up with it anymore, so I hung up. Moments later my phone was ringing again, displaying Ranger's number. I answered it, giving him a second chance. "We got cut off," he explained. I rolled my eyes, knowing full and well that he knew I had hung up on him purposefully. "Listen, we need to talk."

"I'm listening," I retorted, taking a bite of toast.

"Can't you just tell me where you are so we can do this properly? This isn't the type of thing you do over the phone."

"I'm sorry, Ranger," I said after swallowing my chew. "I don't think I'm ready to see you just yet." And once again I hung up, this time switching it off and chucking it in my bag.

"Trouble in paradise?" Morelli asked, watching with a slightly amused expression.

"Like you wouldn't believe," I groaned slouching back in my chair. I wasn't sure if I should go on and explain everything, so I didn't. I watched Laura eat for a few moments. She had a perfectly measured and executed system; fork a piece, slide it through the syrup, suck the syrup off, hold the piece of pancake in her mouth for exactly three and a half seconds, chew and swallow. She then takes a small sip of her orange juice and starts the process again. I very much doubted that she was aware of the preciseness of each of her actions, but I had watched her eat pancakes many times in her short life, and a mother notices these things.

The table was completely silent when I realised that Morelli was watching me, watching my daughter, watching her fork. It was all quite creepy if you ask me, and I found myself wondering what the fork would be watching if it had eyes; the food probably. I felt a presence behind me and knew it was Lester before I turned around, mostly because Laura had exclaimed in her usual manner, "Uncle Lester!"

"Aren't you just a grubby little kid," he said, clipping her under the chin. "Bomber! How are you holding up?" He kissed me on the cheek and glanced past to Joe. "Morelli," he nodded, his blank face trying to fall into place, but it was hampered by a death glare.

"I'm okay, Les," I replied, sipping my own orange juice. "What are you doing here?"

"My phone died and I think we had some bad reception. So I came here to continue. I hope I'm not interrupting anything," he added, giving Morelli another glance.

"Just, breakfast and friendly conversation; you're welcome to join us."

He took a seat and stole a sip of Laura's orange juice, but didn't order anything for himself. Nobody said anything for several minutes and it was becoming awkward especially seeing as Morelli and Lester were continuously giving each other the evil eye. Laura seemed oblivious to the hostility between the two men, and if she did notice it, she chose to ignore, in favour of her pancakes. Guess where she got that one from. Finally Morelli saved us all the strain of keeping it up and, with a glance at his watch, excused himself, saying that he had to get to work.

"What's the deal here? Tell me what's wrong?" With a quick look at the plate in front of me, which was practically untouched, he added, "Are you gonna eat that?"

"Ranger got a phone call this morning," I began as I set the plate in front of him to finish off. "It was Bobby, asking him to come in and deal with a client. Ranger was refusing, but Bobby was insistent. I got Ranger to hand me the phone so that I could sort it out, but he was adamant that the woman wasn't going to give up. I convinced him to let me speak to her and she said that she was Ranger's wife." Lester had a full mouth of egg and as trying to reply, but there was no way of interpreting his words at that moment. "You could have told me he was married," I grumbled loudly accusatorily.

Finally swallowing his mouthful, Lester replied, "You knew about her, Steph. You knew he was married."

I shook my head at him. The only wife I knew of in regards to Ranger was Julie's mother Rachel... And that's when it clicked. I felt like such an imbecile, I hadn't even let any of them try to explain; I had simply bolted. Bolted like the doubtful fiancé I am. How could I let this one phone call screw with me so much? Ranger would never do something like that to me! He had promised himself to me and I had accepted, he wouldn't have done so if he was property of someone else.

Groaning loudly I banged my head against the table several times, very hard. I lost count after three hits to the head, but pretty soon something soft met with my forehead instead of the table and I lifted my gaze to find Flipsey where my plate used to be. "No, Mummy, you give yourself a headache," came Laura's stern voice. Sometimes I forget who the kid is in this situation, you should have heard me wailing when she wouldn't sleep when she was a baby.

"She's right, Steph, not only that, you'll give yourself a nasty bump." I sat back, shaking my head at my own stupidity and Lester continued to talk. "I take it you've caught on then?" I simply nodded. "Rachel has had it in for you for a very long time. Ever since not long after you and Ranger met, in fact."

"What do you mean?" I asked, stealing a piece of toast back from my plate, my stomach a little more settled now that I realised that Ranger wasn't to blame in this situation.

"Well Ranger was on one of his visitations with Julie. She asked about his work, and he told her about a woman that he would be mentoring. Of course, this got back to Rachel and she was not overly pleased with it. Rachel was still under the impression that Ranger had a different girl each week, so telling Julie about his latest was an irresponsible act. As time went by, Ranger became more and more involved in the mess that you called a life and on their visitation days, Julie would ask Ranger about you. He would fill her in. It was obvious to Rachel, after a few months, that you were not just some chick to fill his bed for a night or two to satisfy some needs, there was so much more there. She was jealous, eventhough she seemed to be completely over Ranger from a normal person's perspective, in the eyes of special forces soldier, it was quite clear that she did not like the idea of Ranger actually having a love interest."

He paused a moment to steal some more of Laura's juice before continuing. "Ranger has denied it from the very beginning; the original reason being that he was denying that he loved you, but even when he realised his feelings he denied that Rachel was jealous. To be honest I don't think it even occurred to him. He was under the impression that Rachel was happily married to Ron, who was the perfect father figure for Julie. Why should a jealous rage of his ex-wife even come into the equation, right?"

"I take it Rachel didn't see that logic?" I whispered, now hugging my daughter's stuffed animal to my chest as a comfort.

"No, she didn't. Despite telling Ranger every chance she got that Ron was the best thing that ever happened to Julie, Rachel still wanted Ranger in her bed."

"Just in her bed?" I asked incredulously, gaining a bit more courage now. "Not as her husband, not as the father of her child, just as a..." I glanced at Laura, suddenly remembering that she had ears and that she also had a tendency to repeat all the words she shouldn't.

"Yeah, just as one of those," he grinned, catching my thoughts as they drifted from my head.

"Well I can't really blame her _that _much," I muttered softly, "He is incredibly..."

"Steph, please don't finish that thought. I really don't need to think of my brother like that."

I felt a blush rise on my cheeks, and tried to hide it by taking a sip of my own drink, but I knew he'd seen it. Like a lightning bolt striking from the sky I remembered the question I had been meaning to ask him for a while now. "Why did you change your name?" I enquired conversationally.

Lester thought about this for a moment, he kind of made it look like he had forgotten why, I very much doubted that though. "Less to live up to this way." He left it at that. One simply comment. He had to know that I would press for details.

"What do you mean, less to live up to?" I asked insistently.

Sighing, Lester forked another load of food into his mouth and settled his elbows on the table so he was comfortable. "All my life I've been in the shadow of someone else. Ricky was the perfect son... well most of the time. Nothing I did could live up to his achievements. Academically he was a superstar, A's across the board all through school. I scraped through on barely a pass." He stopped for a moment, a thoughtful expression on his face. "It just occurred to me how peculiar it was that he was such an egg head, yet still got all the girls."

We both laughed at this, but it got me thinking too. Ranger had never divulged his growing up experience with me, just a few tidbits about his antics with Lester.

"Anyway, he graduated high school a year ahead of me. We had both made plans to go into the army when we finished up and well, I was sick of living in his shadow. I wanted a fresh plate for my adult life. I didn't want them judging me on the achievements of my brother, so I changed my name to Santos. Of course someone along the line knew that we were related, but this information is rarely passed down to the man who screams in your face if you have even the slightest infraction of the uniform, so I was safe. Without his shadow I managed to pull through quicker than usual without the added pressure from dear Ricky. I felt like a plant that had been kept out of the sun and was finally brought out; I was thriving.

"So, in no time at all, I had caught up to my brother and we were put into the same platoon. People noticed that there was a connection between us, but, without the evidence of a last name to draw the line for them, they were satisfied with our excuse of, 'old friends'. Ranger was still better than me, but I did care all that much, because no one was comparing me to him and saying, 'Why can't you be more like your brother?'"

What I would have given to have had that experience. Being the younger sibling always sucks royally, especially when the older sibling is perfect beyond belief. I knew exactly where Les was coming from, having been through the same thing with Val. In fact, my mother still compares me to her.

"Don't get me wrong," Lester continued, interrupting my thoughts, "There were obvious consequences to my decision. Mum hating me, Dad disowning me. But I finally had the freedom I had longed for my entire life." He shovelled more food into his gob and waited until he'd swallowed to explain more. "Since Dad died a few years back Mum's gotten over her hatred a bit. And she never stopped comparing me to Ranger."

We sat in silence for a few minutes. Laura was colouring the complimentary placemat with the colours the waitress had brought her while I was preoccupied with the phone calls. I had been given a lot of new information about my fiancé that I intended on mulling over. I had just begun this endeavour when Les interrupted my thoughts once again. "What did you have planned for today?" he asked. "I mean, I know you ran out on Ranger, but what are you gonna do next?"

I smiled at him. "I was thinking of taking the Loz-meister to the zoo."

"So this is a keep-Ranger-in-anxious-suspense-a-while-longer day?" he exclaimed excitedly. "I haven't had one of those since I hijacked Ranger's email inbox when he was waiting for his college placement offer after we got out of the service!"

"You're welcome to join us," I informed him, finally letting go of Flipsey and handing him... her? ... it back to Laura.

"Beautiful," he grinned. "It would be a crime for me not to be involved." He laid a kiss each on my and Laura's foreheads and threw some money on the table. We were off into the world.

_Thank you to all those who have reviewed. They really do mean alot to me. I hope you will keep them coming._


	21. Chapter TwentyOne

_I felt that things were getting a bit too serious, and all those familiar with my style know that me and serious don't go together all that well, so hopefully I have succeeded in a bit of a comic relief chapter. Enjoy_

**Chapter Twenty-One**

I sat on a bench near the monkey enclosure listen to the two of them jabber with the primates. Laura was sitting on Lester's shoulders so that she had a better view, but I could see she was getting restless, she hadn't touched the ground in almost two hours, and for a three year old that's a long time, especially my three year old. Lester, on the other hand seemed oblivious to her jiggling and shifting. Then again, he could just be misinterpreting it as excitement. They walked along a bit and came to a bigger monkey... or it was possible an ape, I was too far away to read the sign. Lester set the child down on the ground so that he could imitate the animal. He really was the spitting image, with his face all drawn downwards his back hunched, knees bent and knuckles on the ground. Laura was laughing her guts up at the spectacle and I admit, I was chuckling a fair bit as well.

A woman in a zoo uniform approached the two of them and asked if she could take a picture for the notice board at the exit gate. Lester obliged, and as I made my way over toward them again heard the woman talking.

"It's so nice to see a family outing!" she exclaimed with enthusiasm. "Too often we see children being trailed by Nannies and caretakers. It truly is refreshing." Her attention turned to me as I approached. "You must be the mother," she said with the same zeal, "I can see it in your eyes. The same vibrant blue, it's truly amazing the colour!"

I smiled politely at her and nodded as Laura came to wrap her arms around my legs. "Les," I said to him, "We should probably get going, I've got to organise some stuff before we go home."

"Oh you can't cut such a glorious day short for business!" the woman butted in. "They were enjoying themselves so much! I'm sure whatever it is can wait until tomorrow. Now come on, let's get a picture of Mum, Dad and the precious little girl!"

Lester's eyes widened at her request. "Shit!" he exclaimed, quickly ducking behind the trash can. "You could have warned me, Steph!" He was peering fervently all around as if trying to catch a glimpse of something.

I chuckled a little at the spectacle he was making, and also the shocked look on the zookeeper's face. "Lester, honey, it's alright. Come out from behind the trash can please." To the keeper I added quietly, "He's on day release; mental institution on Haywood. We thought we'd take him on an outing seeing as he goes in for his frontal lobotomy next week."

The woman's face softened a bit and turned sad eyes on Lester, still hiding. Laura was giggling at my side and I leaned down to whisper to her, "You shouldn't laugh, Laura," I gave her a wink, which she knew meant I wasn't made at her and she wasn't doing anything wrong. Returning my attention to the still cowering Lester I cooed, "Come on, we'll get you an ice cream on the way out."

"I don't want an ice cream!" he exclaimed, although his voice was barely more than a whisper. "It's not safe, not while he's around."

Crouching down next to him, I took his hand in mine, which he tried to pull away in distress. He had a panicked look on his face and when I reached out a hand to caress his face lovingly he slapped it away. "Lester, baby, it's me. It's you're Stephie. What's wrong?" He did a mighty fine impression of a gold fish. "Who are you hiding from?"

"Dad," he whispered hoarsely, peering around the bin once more.

"Is he alright dear?" the zoo keeper asked, leaning closer.

Lester started backwards away from her, leaping to his feet, grabbing Laura and running full pelt. I sighed heavily and took off at a run behind him. Fortunately he had stopped just around the corner and out of sight. Laura was laughing, having the time of her life without knowing what was actually going on. Lester was bent at the waist bracing against his knees, trying to compose himself. "Oh my gosh!" he breathed. "It was so hard to keep a straight face back there! Frontal lobotomy! Where'd you pull that from?"

"I watched 'One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest'," I shrugged, rubbing him on the back as the zookeeper came around the corner at a swift pace. "Laura, stay close please," I called to the still giggling girl a few feet away. The little girl skipped over and sat on the ground beside me, pigtails swinging.

"Is he alright?" called the zookeeper from what she probably thought was a safe distance.

I nodded and whispered to Lester to sit down with Laura for a moment before walking over to where she stood. "I'm sorry about that," I offered, "He must have palmed his meds again."

"What's wrong with him?" she asked in barely more than a whisper, her gaze never leaving Lester as he fiddled with Laura's curls.

"Sporadic paranoia. It's a result of the repressed memory therapy he did a few years back; it didn't quite turn out the way it was supposed to."

She nodded grimly as if she fully understood the nonexistent situation. Suddenly, though, her face changed back to the overzealous expression she had had earlier. "I hope he enjoys his visit to the zoo then," she said, plunging her hand into her pocket. "Here's a gift voucher for the gift shop, buy them both something nice."

I nodded just as I heard Lester's phone go off. Luckily, for the sake of our story, Laura had been looking after it. She pulled it from the front pocket of her overalls, pressed the appropriate button and greeted the person on the other end.

"Hi Daddy!" she exclaimed after a moment. "We're at the zoo with Uncle Lester!" She listened for a bit, then came prancing over to me holding the phone out. "Daddy wants to talk to you," she whispered.

"Thankyou, sweetie," I said, taking the phone, "Go back to Uncle Lester now. Thank you so much," I added to the zoo keeper. "We've had an enjoyable day. I really should take this call now." She nodded her understanding and waved goodbye to Lester and Laura. "Hi Honey," I said in a strained voice.

"Before you say anything," Ranger said quickly, "I wanted to apologise for the way Rachel acted, it was completely out of line and I should have told you who it was before you took over the call. I gave her a piece of my mind urging her to get as far away from me as possible so that I wouldn't do something I would regret."

"Ranger, Lester has already explained the situation to me, it's okay, I forgive you."

There was a sigh of relief on the other end, followed by a long period of silence. Finally, Ranger spoke again, "If you forgive me, why do you still have your phone turned off?"

"I guess I was still kinda mad at you that you would allow that to happen," I admitted, "And Laura and I needed some time out."

"Will you be home for dinner?" he asked, hopefully.

I had to chuckle at the degree of unsureness in his voice. I guess he had really thought he'd lost us for a while there, I knew how that felt. "We were just about to head over to the park," I told him, "Laura's gonna need to run. She hasn't said anything yet, but she's been on Lester's shoulders for the past couple of hours and has been getting a little fidgety. Why don't you meet us there?"

"That should have been my shoulders she was sitting on," he grumbled good naturedly. "I'll see you soon. I really am sorry."

We hung up and I lead the two children (I was resigned to the fact that Lester would never grow up) to the gift shop, explaining on the way the zookeeper had given me the gift voucher and that we were going to go to the park after we picked out souvenirs. Laura insisted on picking something out for Daddy, she chose a zoo colouring book for herself and we agreed on a t-shirt that read "The tiger ate my other shirt" with the Zoo logo across the top of the back. Lester eventually settled on a mechanical parrot that would repeat everything he said and would sit on his shoulder, I rolled my eyes because I knew that he would use it all the time. The cashier was just starting to tally up our purchases when Laura leaned down from her position atop Lester's shoulders and whispered in his ear. Lester looked up at me, and then to the items we had chosen and told me they would meet me at the car. They moved off, back into the gift shop as I finished paying for the souvenirs.

Ten minutes later they arrived at the car with another zoo gift bag. "We getted you something!" Laura told me as Lester strapped her in. "But you can't get it yet, you have to wait 'til we're with Daddy."

_Thanks for reading, as always. Why don't you review and let me know what you think Les and Loz got Steph? I'd love to hear from you._


	22. Chapter 22

_Here it is. It's been finished for a day or so, but I've been busy and haven't been able to post. Enjoy_

**Chapter 22**

The drive to the park seemed endless from my perspective. Not only was there a surprise for me sitting in a bag on the back seat, but I had the added pressure of going to see my future husband for the first time since I walked out on him in a tiz. Les and Loz were giggle about something or other, but my mind was too preoccupied to even pick up on the cause. As we neared our destination Lester seemed to pick up on my mental dilemma, probably not for the first time in the car ride but then again, the feelings had just intensified. He laid a hand gently on my thigh, rubbing soft circles on the outer side o my leg.

"It's okay," he whispered soothingly. "He doesn't blame you in the slightest. You know that. Take a few deep breaths and everything will be alright."

I heeded his words, he was, after all, the expert on stressful situations and all issues pertaining his brother. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw that Laura was bouncing up and down excitedly. Her eyes were fixed firmly out the window as we entered the street with the park and she squealed loudly and very high pitched. This prompted me to glance out my window, just as I had suspected, Ranger was standing at the entrance to the park waiting for us.

As Lester pulled into a nearby parking space Ranger approached and no sooner had I remove my seatbelt and opened the door then Ranger had pulled me out and into his arms for a searing kiss. His lips were hot and demanding on mine and when he finally pulled away I was out of breath. Tucking a strand of hair behind my ear he placed a soft kiss there and whispered huskily in Spanish. I had curled my fingers into his shirt, not wanting to let go and laid my head on his shoulder when there was a throat cleared behind us. "Don't ever scare me like that again, Babe," Ranger said softly before releasing me.

"_You_ don't scare _me_ like that ever again!" I countered, jabbing a finger into his chest.

"Gots to run!" Laura exclaimed, interrupting our accusatory dialogue. We all chuckled and looked down at the small bouncing child. She thrust the gift bag she was holding into my hand and dragged Lester into the park. "Show me where to run!" she demanded.

"What's this?" Ranger asked, lifting my gift bag curiously.

I placed my hand in his and lead him into the park to find a bench to sit on. "I'm hoping its not anything inappropriate," I told him, then going on to explain about the gift shop and how they felt the need to get me something. We watched as Laura ran out the course Lester had set for her and when she came over to where we were sitting she climbed immediately onto Ranger's lap to hug him and whisper in his ear. I'm not sure what she said, but Ranger smiled and nodded in response. I smells a conspiracy.

"Open the bag, Stephie," Lester chuckled. I joined in the laughter and Ranger was looking at us curiously.

"Stephie?" he asked, "Nobody's ever called you Stephie before." His brow was furrowed in thought. "Have they?"

"No," I giggled, and proceeded to tell the story of what happened at the zoo.

By the end of the story Ranger was full on laughing. He slapped his brother on the back and exclaimed, "I knew you belonged in an institution!"

Laura had been sitting quietly, content to have her Daddy hold her, but like all children, they have their limits. "Open it Mummy!" she squealed. "Open, open OPEN!"

All three of us laughed at her as I opened the bag. Inside I found a skimpy tank top. I could tell just by looking at it that it would show off a lot of cleavage, fit perfectly to every curve I had going and leave at least an inch of mid-drift. There was a saying on it just like on Ranger's, but slightly different; mine said, "My husband thought it would be fun to feed my other shirt to the Tigers". A glance at Ranger told me that he was getting ideas, his eyes had darkened considerably.

"We got you a t-shirt too," Lester told Ranger, pulling another bag from God knows where.

Ranger opened his bag and smiled at the shirt. "Babe, have I told you about the time I was on a mission and was attacked by a tiger?" I shook my head, slightly dumbfounded. "It ate my shirt!" he exclaimed before bursting into uncontrollable laughter. I looked at Lester, who was also laughing, asking silently for confirmation. He nodded and continued to chuckle at my expression.

Laura got Ranger to set a course for her to run and I decided I needed to use the loo. I was just flushing when I heard the lock on the door tumble and in came Ranger, invading the already small space and practically absorbing all the air from the place; I knew I couldn't breathe. Silently he turned and relocked the door before pulling me into his arms. He gazed into my eyes for long moments, a serious expression on his face then without even the slightest warning, his lips were on mine, devouring my very being. Before he could go any further, though, I pulled away, a bit reluctantly.

"Ranger," I breathed as he moved his lips to the sweet spot at the base of my neck. "Ranger," I repeated, this time managing to put some conviction behind it as I pushed his shoulder roughly. He stopped his torture, staring me in the eyes with a confused expression on his face; he knew I wanted this as much as he did, so why was I stopping him? "Why did Rachel say she was your wife?"

He sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair as he leaned back against the cubicle door. "She's a very jealous woman, Babe."

"But why did she say she was your wife?" I insisted. I had to get the answers from him.

"I don't know," Ranger sighed again, "Maybe she thought it was the easiest way to get under your skin. I gave up on trying to understand her a long time ago."

"How did she even find out about us though?" I asked, sitting on the lid of the toilet.

"She has her ways, Babe. Do we really have to talk about this now?" He seemed a bit distracted, rightfully so I guess, given the amount of tenting in his trousers.

"Why shouldn't we?" I asked, "We need to talk about these things. The key to a relationship is communication and now you need to communicate to me how Rachel could have found out about me being back in town."

Ranger had his eyes averted to his shoe and was clearly having some kind of internal dialogue with himself. "I spoke to Julie," he finally said, almost too quietly for me to hear and with his gaze still glued to his shoe. "I've been keeping in contact with her since the Scrog incident, as you know," he continued, obviously not wanting me to interrupt. "We talk on the phone probably once a month. She tells me about school and other little things and asks me how I am. After she found out you'd left without a trace that became one of the usual questions. She really likes you."

"But she doesn't know me," I countered, slightly confused. I mean seriously, the only contact we had ever had was in the motor home while both being held captive.

"She's heard a lot about you. And the brief time you met during the time when she had been kidnapped gave her a lasting impression. Anyway, when I called her last week and she asked about you, I couldn't very well deny the fact that you had returned. She was so happy when I told her about our engagement and is very excited about having a half sister." He paused a moment, finally looking up from his shoe. "She wants to meet her. I told her I had to talk to you first."

I smiled at this. "Why haven't you then?" I asked. Standing, I effectively plastered myself to his front, you wouldn't have been able to fit a piece of paper between us; we were so close.

"I guess I just got a bit distracted," Ranger uttered softly against my mouth, bringing his hands up to cup my face. "What do you think?"

I moaned a little at the gentle pressure his fingers were applying behind my ears. "Mmm, I think you were pretty distracted."

He chuckled at my comment. "I meant what do you think about Julie coming to visit?"

"That's a good idea too," I managed as he lowered a hand to the waistband of my skirt. "You may not wanna do that though," I whispered. I'd heard the outer door of the ladies loo open and close. "I know you're there Lester!" I called.

I felt Ranger chuckle silently as Lester's reply came over Laura's giggles. "No you don't Bomber, you're guessing." I rolled my eyes, unplastering myself from Ranger's rock hard form and straightening my clothing. He was right of course, I was guessing, but who else could it be? "You and Ranger gonna come out and be good or should we give a little more time?"

"We're good," I replied, reaching around Ranger to open the door. Ranger backed out, still grinning a bit at the situation and I followed him.

Lester glanced at his watch. "I have a surveillance shift in half an hour," he explained, "So I'm gonna have to leave the three of you to play happy family together." He gave Laura and I a kiss on the top of the head and nodded to his brother before leaving.

Laura was standing a few feet away where Lester had put her down, hands on hips and a stern look in her eyes. "Daddy, what is you doing in the girl's bathroom?" she questioned.

"He was making sure I was alright, sweet-pea," I answered for him.

"How about some dinner?" Ranger asked, distracting both of us as our stomachs growled. "A little girl has put in a request for McDonalds nuggies."

_Don't forget to submit those loverly reviews I have grown so fond of._


	23. Chapter Twenty Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

"Ranger!" I called down the hall, cell phone glued to my ear as I waited for someone from the Florist to pick up. In my free hand I held a well chewed pen and my daughter stood just in front of me holding a note pad on top of her head. "Ranger!" I tried again when he didn't reply. The piano music that was playing in my ear was beginning to get on my nerves, I'd been on hold for half an hour now, how busy could a Florist Shop be? I had a dress fitting in less than an hour, I still needed to finalise the details with the flowers before I left and Ranger was nowhere to be found. "RANGER!!"

Third time a charm. Ranger came ambling on from the back door through the kitchen, dirty smeared on the knees of his jeans and chest bare of all clothing. I had the urge to drop the phone and do him right there; he looked so sexy with the sweat glistening on his abs. Slowly, I remembered that Laura was in the room and I had to act appropriately and pulled my eyes back up to his grinning face. "Babe?" he asked, effectively conveying his thoughts in just one word; he'd always had a knack for that.

"Please tell me that you've confirmed the reception hall!" I wailed, coming back to the situation at hand. The wedding was in a little less than a month, as my mother kept informing me, and things were getting stressful. The caterer dropped out yesterday leaving me scrambling to find a new one, but everywhere I tried was telling me it was too short notice. The example floral arrangements the Florist had sent out was COMPLETELY wrong. I know I'm sounding like a bit of a Bridezilla at the moment, but when you ask for purple, orange and white you don't expect to see yellow, blue and cream when the flowers arrive.

"Twice," he assured me, taking in my panicked expression. "What are you on to now?"

"Florist," I told him. "Those flowers were all wrong! How could you get orange and purple mixed up with yellow and blue?"

Laying a gentle, calming hand on the back of my neck, Ranger replied, "Well the colours are quite similar..." He trailed off when I gave him my 'don't take her side' look. He knew how much I wanted this wedding to be perfect, and it wasn't going to be perfect if we had the wrong coloured flowers. "Don't you have a fitting today?" he asked instead

I nodded and glanced at my watch. "Forty minutes." And it would take fifteen to get there, so realistically I had twenty five minutes to get this shit sorted out.

Ranger nodded and ducked back into the kitchen, returning with a glass of lemonade complete with brightly coloured swirly straw in each hand. He handed one to Laura warning her not to spill it, and held the other out for me to sip from while he took the notepad from Laura's head. "Is she going with you or staying here?" he asked. I sighed; I would have loved to leave her here with Ranger so that I could have a little bit of time by myself, but she needed to try her dress on too just to make sure that no drastic changes were needed. "I'll take her for a drive this afternoon so you can have a nice long bubble bath," he promised.

Three hours later I lay in the gigantic tub marvelling over my dress fitting. A month ago we were looking at taking it in an inch, but now, without any alterations it fit perfectly. Had I been snacking more than usual? I asked myself, looking down at my stomach as if it held the answer to all life's problems. I must have been revelling too much in Ella's care packages, they were absolutely delectable, but probably weren't all that healthy and I had enjoyed them too much. I remember hearing somewhere that the key to losing weight and maintaining the perfect figure was to not enjoy your food, because if you didn't enjoy it you wouldn't eat as much of it.

Mary Lou had given me a curious look when I'd stepped out of the changing room and announced that it fit perfectly. It had me worried, but Miss Gracie didn't seem to worried about the dress fitting, probably it was because she no longer had to do the alterations. I had, however, kept my cool about it and we quickly moved on to the girls.

I was just lulling my mind into a deep sense of serenity, aided by the vanilla scented candles Ranger had set around the room before he left, when the phone rang jolting me into an upright position before conscious thought had even resumed. "Hello?" I asked, rather testily I might add.

"Stephanie, it's Ella, am I interrupting something?"

"No, it's fine," I sighed, "What's up?"

"Oh gosh, you're still in the tub aren't you? I'm sorry, I should have waited. I'll call back later." She sounded so apologetic, and it was probably an honest mistake.

"Don't worry, Ella; you've got me now. What can I do for you?"

"Ranger just told me that you're out a caterer," she began quickly.

"Ella, I can't ask you to cater my wedding, you're supposed to be a guest."

"I know you can't ask me, dear, you're too proud. That's why I'm offering. I can cater and be a guest at the same time. I'll enlist my sister to help. Please? It would me the world to me!"

She seemed a little pushier than usual; I had a sneak in suspicion that Ranger had put her up to this. "Of course you can," I eventually conceded. It's not like I could just turn her down, she was so excited about the prospect. "Put Ranger on," I hazarded.

"Oh, Dear, he's not here, he left a few minutes ago."

In the background I heard someone blowing raspberries, followed promptly by Laura's squeals of delight. I laughed, "That's either Ranger or Lester, Ella, she won't let anyone else do that to her. Put him on."

A moment later I heard the phone being handed over as the little girl's laughter grew louder. "Babe, I know what you're thinking, but she insisted. I was just talking to her about the wedding plans and it slipped out and before I knew it she was insisting on catering." I wasn't sure whether to believe this or not, the scenario he put forth was very likely, but so was the one my mind had conjured. "How's your bath?" he asked and I imagined that wolf grin of his creeping over his face.

"Mmm," I moaned, teasingly. "It's so goo-ood. Thank you so much for lighting these candles for me. I'm totally relaxed." I let out a laugh when I heard him swallow on the other end. "I feel like just sinking under all these bubbles forever."

"I've gotta go, Babe," he said, his voice slightly less free than usual. "Laura and I are going to the museum."

"Have fun," I chimed before making kissy sounds into the phone.

"You too, but not too much fun without me, Babe," he warned, returning my kissies.

When Ranger arrived home with Laura at six o'clock he brought with him fresh garden salad and some cold cuts. "I thought we'd have an easy dinner tonight, Babe," he informed me, kissing my forehead.

"Mummy!" Laura exclaimed, racing down the hall to where I had just emerged from the living room. "I sawed dinosaurs! They was big and scary, but Daddy protected me. Look I getted a elephant from the gift shop! See?" She was jumping up and down thrusting a stuffed elephant toy in my face.

I took it from her to look at it closer and my gaze met with Ranger. _How much sugar has she had?_ I mouthed, a huge grin on my face. Ranger shrugged and moved to the kitchen to deposit the food on the counter. When he came back out he caught Laura around the waist picking her up and carrying her into the kitchen, guess it was dinner time, I mused, following after them, listening to her squeals.

"Daddy put me down!! I don't want dinner! Don't!! Daddy! Stop tickling!!" Her legs were kicking out all over the place and I just hoped he knew well enough not to let the little feet get too close to his jewels. Once Ranger had placed Laura on a chair at the table, she immediately jumped down and ran from the room screaming, "No no no no no no no no!" I guess she didn't want dinner at the moment. By the time we made it out into the hall she was nowhere in sight.

"Loza!" I called, "Where did you go?"

"I don't want dinner!" came her small, muffled voice from the coat closet. "I'm hiding until it's over."

"You need to eat your dinner if you want to grow up big and strong." That was Ranger's attempt at luring her out of the closet.

"I DON'T WANT DINNER!!" she repeated in her high pitched squeal.

I simply shrugged and headed back into the kitchen to get my own dinner, I was quite hungry. Ranger followed, but as I dished the salad and meat onto our plates he kept glancing at the door to the hall. "She'll come out when she's hungry," I assured him, taking my plate to the table and digging in. He followed suit reluctantly and sat so that he had a perfect view of the door and kept his eyes trained on it, as if he could see through it... scary thought, let's not go there. If he could see through doors imagine all those times he'd come to my apartment when I was just in a towel! "Ranger, relax. She does this once in a while, it's normal for kids her age." He nodded, but kept his gaze on the door. I let out a sigh and forked another bite of salad into my mouth.

Remembering my dress fitting I smiled at the salad. _I'll be eating a lot more of you,_ I thought at it. It won't do to be the only woman in history to _gain_ weight before her wedding.

Later, while I was putting fresh sheets on the bed in the spare room Laura poked her head in sheepishly. "Mummy?" she asked tentatively.

"Yes Loza?" I replied, jiggling the pillow into it's case at the same time.

"Whatcha doin?"

I stood from the bed and glanced at the doorway were she was watching. I knew that Ranger has sat down earlier and had a chat to her about Julie coming to visit, but I was unsure how that had turned out. "Fixing the bed for Julie," I replied, sitting on it's edge and patting the space next to me. She ran and leapt up on the bed in one of those moves that always amazes me; I was thinking she would be a great gymnast. Something to look into when she gets a bit older.

"Who's Julie?" she asked, taking my hand and placing it in her lap so that she could trace patterns over it.

"Julie is Ranger's daughter from an earlier marriage," I explained, not sure how else to put it. "She's your half sister."

Frowning at this as she crossed her arms, leaving my hand forgotten on her lap. "I doesn't want a sister," she grumbled. She was so cute when she did this that I had to take several deep breaths to keep myself from laughing.

"Well you've got no choice, sweet-pea." I took the hand that had previously been in her lap and used it to stroke one of her beautiful curls out of her face. "Why don't you want an older sister?"

Her lips were pursed in annoyance when she replied, "He's my Daddy."

The light bulb of understanding flicked on in my head. It was all coming clear. Laura didn't want Julie here, because she was afraid that she would lose Ranger if his other daughter was here. She hadn't had him very long and wasn't quite ready to share. What she didn't realise, however, was that Julie hadn't spent much time with her father either, not that that knowledge would help much; the child was only three, and while she seemed to understand a lot, I felt that this concept was a little beyond her. We were just going to have to play things by ear here, there wasn't much that I could do except ask her to be nice to Julie; which I did.

"Mummy?" she asked again as I stood to finish making the bed.

"Yes pumpkin."

"Can I have some dinner?"

I smiled, I knew there was a better reason she had come to find me other than ask what I was doing. "Of course. What's Daddy doing?"

She shrugged her little shoulders so high that they brushed the bottom of her ears. "His in his office."

I nodded. He was taking a few days off to spend with 'his girls' so he as probably finalising some paperwork or sending last minute instructions via email. I held my hand out to her. "We'll go get you something to eat then, shall we?"

By the time Ranger came to bed that night I was already on the sleep train heading toward dream town. I vaguely remember him wrapping his arms around me and pulling my back flush up against his front, but I was so far gone that I couldn't even acknowledge him. I awoke the next morning to the warmth leaving my back; Ranger was get up. As he rummaged in the draw for clothes I rolled over to gaze upon his behind, so scrumptious in the black satin boxers he wore.

"Go back to sleep, Babe," he said without turning around. "It's still early."

"What time is it?" I asked, swiping a hand across my face.

"It's almost five. Go back to sleep for a couple more hours, I'm going for a run."

I had no intention of going back to sleep now, it was practically impossible now that I was awake, but he would sigh at me if I got out of bed. I don't like it when he sighs at me. So I rolled over and pretended to settle back into the pillow while he changed into running shorts and left.

Once I was assured that he was out of the house I slid from the bed to shower and mentally prepare myself for the day. I could tell, just from the short conversation I had had with Laura last night that today was going to be a stressful one. She wasn't prepared to share her Daddy, I understood, she'd only known him for a couple of months.

Ranger would be heading to the airport alone around eight to wait for Julie's flight to come in and then take her back to Rangeman where Laura and I would be hanging out all morning. We figured it was best to introduce the girls on neutral ground rather at home, where Laura had ownership of things and Julie didn't. This way there were also the Merry Men around and security cameras to keep an eye on things in case they got ugly. I had every faith that Julie would be understanding of the little girl and allow her to warm up to her.

When Ranger got home from his run I sat him down and asked him to have a chat to Julie about a Laura before they got to Rangeman. I just wanted her to be aware of the fact that Laura wasn't fond of the idea of having an older sister and that she probably wouldn't get a nice treatment from her for a few days until she realised that there was room enough in Ranger's life for the both of them.

"This was no time for play. This was no time for fun. This was no time for games. There was work to be done," I began. We had already finished _The Cat in the Hat_ and were now moving on to _The Cat in the Hat Comes Back_. When I had glanced up at the end of the previous book I noticed several heads hastily turn back to their work. I laughed at this; the big strong men listening intently to the kids story. Laura and I had decided that waiting in Ranger's office, or even the seventh floor apartment, made us feel antisocial, so I had wheeled Ranger's desk chair out of the office and into the corner of the control room where she had settled onto my lap. "All that deep, Deep, deep snow, All that snow had to go. When our mother went Down to the town for the day, She said, 'Somebody has to Clean all this away. Somebody, SOMEBODY Has to, you see.' Then she picked out two Sombodies. Sally and me."

As I turned the page to continue an unfamiliar voice interrupted my reading. "Stephanie?"

I looked up, not sure who I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't this beautiful young lady that stood a few feet away. If it weren't for the fact that I knew it had to be Julie I would have asked what she wanted. I couldn't believe how much she had grown and matured since I had last seen her. Even though I knew she was sixteen now, I was still expecting to see the twelve year old I had met chained to the bed in the motor home.

She was truly a beauty to be proud of. Her long straight hair was in a braid down her back with a side fringe sweeping down over one perfectly shaped eyebrow. Her face was lit in a smile as she gazed at me, our eyes locked. She had on tight fitting jeans and a lime green, cap sleeved blouse that made her look about eighteen or nineteen, rather than the sixteen I knew she was.

She let out a nervous laugh. "Are you going to say anything? Or sit there scrutinising me?"

"Julie!" I managed to squeeze out. Stupid throat was forming a lump. "You're all grown up!"

Again she laughed. "Thank god someone noticed! Dad embraced me and lifted me up onto his hip as if I was nine as soon he saw me. I had hit him in the shoulder several times to get him to put me down." I noticed that at some point over the years she had stopped calling Ranger Ranger and started calling him Dad.

"Where is Ranger?" I asked, suddenly realising he wasn't here.

"In the garage," Julie replied. "He got stopped by one of his cronies as we made our way toward the elevator." Coming a little closer she crouched down so she was at Laura's eye level. "You must be Laura. I've heard so much about you. I tell you what though, you're way more pretty than Dad described." Flattery, that would certainly make a good first impression on the child. Laura loved to be told she was pretty. Holding out her hand to the three year old, Julie continued, "I'm Julie."

"Nice to meet you Julie," Laura grumbled, shaking her hand reluctantly. I watched her closely, noting that as the elevator doors opened and Ranger stepped out her eyes brightened and started struggling to get out of my arms. I set her down on the floor and she immediately ran into her father's waiting arms giving him a massive hug, as if to tell Julie that he was hers.

I made an apologetic face at Julie and she nodded that she understood the situation. As Laura was claiming her father as her own I stood and embraced Julie. It was a little weird, being that we had only met that one time and under such dismal circumstances, but I felt a lot of love, both coming from and going to Julie.

"I never got to thank you," she said as we pulled apart. I was sure a little wrinkle of confusion had creased my forehead, but I said nothing, waiting for her to go on. "For helping my dad find me," she explained. "I'm not sure what would have happened, I try not to think about the other possible outcomes, but the moment you entered that room, in that ridiculous outfit, I felt an odd sense of comfort. I mean, I didn't know you, but having you there with me, and you telling me that Dad would find us, it made me realise that he did actually care about me." She took a breath and sniffed a moment before laughing again. "Look at me, getting all emotional over something that happened years ago! You must think me a blubbering idiot."

I swiped at the tears that had been building in my own eyes and smiled. "Absolutely not. It was a tough situation, and you were only a kid. If you weren't getting emotional over it I would think there was something wrong with you. Look, it even gets to me." We both laughed at this and turned to watch Laura and Ranger for a moment.

Ranger had Laura in his arms as she spoke animatedly about something or other. Her curls, which were once again in her standard pig tails, were bouncing in every direction as her head swivelled this way and that. I could see that Ranger was laughing. "She's cute," Julie commented beside me. "Dad really loves her. And you. He was devastated when you went away. So was I, I think. I mean, I didn't know you personally, but I knew that it was because of you that he had suddenly become so happy all those years ago. Seeing him happy made me happy, even though I didn't really know him back then. I still don't know all of him, but we're getting there."

I chuckled softly. "I don't think anyone knows all of him, Jules. There are some parts of him that he doesn't even know." We smiled at each other as if sharing in some secret. "How was your flight?" I asked. "Have you eaten today?"

Grimacing, she told me, "Only the aeroplane food." Simultaneously, we made a gagging gesture and sound, before falling about laughing. I was really liking this kid, not that I thought I wouldn't. It was just a bit of a surprise, is all.

"Why don't we drag Laura and Ranger upstairs and we can have lunch. Ella said it should be ready by about now."

A grin spread across her face. "I've heard so much about Ella's cooking!" she exclaimed. "Is it as good as everyone says?"

I gave her a grin of my own. "Better," I assured her, leading the way to the elevators and grabbing Ranger's arm on my way.


	24. Chapter 24

_Well, I start uni in a few days, so I'm not sure if/ when I will be able to find time to write and update. Hopefully this will tide you over if it takes too long. I won't forget about it, I promise. Thanks as always to all those who have ever reviewed, I love them all. Enjoy_

**Chapter 24**

Over lunch I couldn't help but notice that Laura had positioned herself between Julie and Ranger and kept throwing the older girl her patented death glare. I also noticed that Ranger seemed to be oblivious to this predatory attitude and was probably just happy to have Julie here with us. I knew for a fact that it had been a long while since he had actually seen her, even though they do talk regularly on the phone.

I felt awkward to say the least, because there was practically nothing I could do to _make_ Laura like Julie. Also knowing that Julie was feeling awkward because of the way Laura was acting. "So Julie," I began, filling the awkward air with my awkward tone and awkward topic. Okay, so it wasn't that awkward a topic, but I wasn't all that comfortable with the whole situation. "How is your mother?"

To my relief Julie let out a soft laugh that was so much like her father's. "She wasn't at all happy at my accepting Dad's offer to come and stay for a month, but what she has to understand is I'm a big girl now, I can make my own decisions and take care of myself."

I nodded; I remember the feeling of being sixteen like it was yesterday. Mum never gave me the freedom I longed for, not after the incident with the garage roof. It was a good thing I had my Dad, though. He always talked her around... he must have done so in private, because for as long as I can remember he has been a man of few words. Much like the man I was engaged to, although, he had become more open since I returned. Maybe he realised how little good not talking had done our relationship... or lack thereof as he had liked to claim, in any case, I was glad I had him and that I could share my problems with him.

"She never did know when to let go," Ranger commented, giving me one of those meaningful looks, as if to say either a) it's not just me she can't let go of, it's everything, or b) you're a bit like that on somethings. I was guessing it was a mixture of both, given my insistence that everything be perfect for the wedding.

"Oh," Julie exclaimed, "I heard about what she did, Steph. I'm sorry. It's my fault. I'm contemplating teenage rebellion because of it."

I chuckled and assured her that it was alright, but Ranger was looking between us with a slightly confused expression on his face. When I locked eyes with him for a moment he raised on brow. _Teenage rebellion?_ It asked silently. I chuckled again. It was common knowledge among girls that once you reach a certain age you start to not trust anyone over thirty, we called it, teenage rebellion. Men, on the other hand, just had rebellion all the way through and didn't trust anyone full stop. "Teenage rebellion," I explained, "Is a stage that every daughter goes through, especially if they have a controlling mother. The main rule is not to trust anyone over the age of thirty."

"Did you go through that stage?" Ranger asked curiously.

Chuckling again, I replied, "I was still in that stage up until about a month before I ran away. And I started way early. Mine was more like... rebellion, full stop."

"I don't doubt that, Babe," Ranger chuckled along with Julie and I but Laura, I noticed was pouting with the lack of attention being showered on her. I sighed when she started complaining about the size of her sandwich. She asked Ranger to cut it in half for her, which, of course, he did, but as he did so she was sending smug little glances at Julie.

"So how old are you?" Julie asked her, ignoring the looks she was receiving.

Laura scowled at the obvious lack of effect her efforts were having on the 'intruder' and grumbled, "This many," holding up a hand with three fingers extended. "How old are you?"

"I'm sixteen and three quarters," Julie conceded watching in amusement as the small child's eyes widened to the size of saucers. Leaning closer she whispered, "That's nowhere near as old as Dad; he's _really_ old."

Slowly, I watched her gaze slip sideways to her father. "_How_ old are you Daddy?"

Ranger locked eyes with me once more, I simply shrugged. "Too old to count to," he finally said, returning his line of sight to the girls. "So, Laura, what do you think of your big sister?"

_O-oh,_ I thought, _here it comes. The moment we've all been waiting for._ I watched anxiously as Laura slid a critical eye to Julie before simply shrugging and turning back to her sandwich. Breathing a sigh of relief that she hadn't said anything nasty toward the girl, I too returned to my lunch. Silence descended over the meal for the remaining duration, which is fine, if you ignore the continuing glances from Laura.

"No!" I exclaimed over the roar of the television coming from the next room. "I told you already; it has to be LILAC!" It was early evening and Ranger was in the kitchen creating a culinary masterpiece of some kind while I was in his home office, trying to explain for the thousandth time to the idiot on the other end of the phone that the ribbon I need ten metres of had to be lilac. Not blue, not red, not pink, not even violet. Lilac. Apparently though, Lilac wasn't in the guy's vocabulary. I gave an exasperated sigh, not for the first time in the conversation, and yelled out the door for the television to be turned down. When nothing happened I stormed down the hall and into the living room, pulling the plug of the television and glaring at Laura. "You know better than to have the TV that loud," I told her.

Her lower lip was quivering. Yes, I was angry, and stressed, but that didn't give me permission to take it out on my child, did it?

The idiot on the phone was asking me to please hold while he finds his manager. Sighing heavily I agreed, and turned back to Laura, sitting silently on the couch, afraid to make a noise or even move. "Why don't you go find Julie and the two of you set the table?" I suggested, rubbing a hand across my forehead.

"I'm right here, Steph," came Julie's voice from the window seat. I hadn't noticed her, sitting there silently with a book propped against her knees. I watched as she unfolded her long, slender legs and stood. Coming over to the couch she held out a hand to Laura, who took it reluctantly and lead Julie to the kitchen.

When I entered the kitchen half an hour later, having spoken to the manager and sorted the problem it was to find Laura in fits of giggles and Julie also laughing. I glanced at Ranger over by the stove and he was chuckling a little as well. Raising my eyebrow in question as I approached him I asked quietly, "What's going on in here?"

"Julie just broke down the barrier," he explained. "She did this thing with the napkin. She called it, Mrs Napkin-head?"

I laughed at this. It was probably quite similar to Mr Napkin-head from the movie 'The Holiday'. I had to hand it to the girl, she knew what she was doing. Not once had she shown signs of being discouraged by Laura's attitude toward her. She had grown into a very competent and well formed young lady. I know Ranger saw it too, but with a little more sadness. He had had no hand in the outcome of his eldest daughter. Sensing his gloom I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him reassuringly on the lips. "Laura will turn out just as well adjusted as Julie is," I promised. "Her father wouldn't allow it any other way." He offered me a sad smile and kissed my nose. "I know you regret missing Julie grow up," I said softly, "But you have Laura now, she's like your second chance. And it's not like Julie hates you. Everything happens for a reason, even if we don't know what it is."

His smile got a little happier when he looked me in the eye. "You're right, Babe."

I laughed, "When am I ever not?" Watching the look that passed over his face I added, "Don't answer that question."

_As always, I urge you to review. It makes me so happy. You want me to be happy right?_


	25. Chapter Twenty Five

_So I here I am almost through my first week of University and my Music Techniques Lecture just got me down. I never realised that when they said they'd be going back to basics that they meant the _very basics_. Sigh So, I sat for an hour listening to all the stuff I learned years ago and when I came home allowed my brain to drift to the plot line of this story. One thing led to another and before I knew it I had a chapter typed up. So here it is. I hope you enjoy it._

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

I gazed out the window, not really seeing anything. It was all quite relaxing, but at the same time stressful. While I was sitting there, stationary for the first time in probably seventy-two hours, I knew that there was something I should have been doing. Mentally, I ran through the mile long to do list I had drawn up at the beginning of the week, just like every other weeks, but nothing seemed to jump out at me, so I just kept staring. I wasn't even sure what I was staring at, although, having said that, I knew what I _wanted_ to be staring at. Unfortunately, that something was in a meeting and would not be able to get away from the office until approximately seven o'clock; as it was three now, I was feeling very deprived indeed.

The house was absolutely silent as far as I could tell. I hadn't seen hide nor hair of Julie or Laura since lunch time. In a way it was really quite frightening and I kept thinking something was wrong, but that was probably just because I wasn't used to such peace and quiet; right? I knew that Julie knew how to handle herself in an emergency, not that any such event should occur in the house, and I also knew she was capable of taking care of Laura. Julie had been running her own Babysitting service for four years now, so no worries there. It just seemed unnatural for the house to be so quiet, knowing full and well that they were within, somewhere.

My eyes caught on a butterfly fluttering by the window where I sat and I found myself transfixed by the majestic strokes of its wings. Everything else seemed to drift away into oblivion, leaving behind only me and the splendour that was the blue winged beauty.

Time itself seemed to vanish as the butterfly flew out of sight, leading my gaze to the spider weaving a web in the eves. Fascination coursed through my body and the back of my neck began to tingle. It was only the hand clicking in front of my face that drew me out of my stupor. I had been watching with interest as bats flew across the night sky, not even realising that it was night time. Now, as I started away from the source of the clicking sound my eyes locked on Ranger's dark chocolate brown ones, he was smiling.

"Where are the kids?" he asked after kissing me hello.

I thought for a moment about my afternoon, and felt compelled to reply, "I think they're dead." To my horror, Ranger's eyes widened in shock and that's when I realised what I had said. Shaking my head vigorously I placed a reassuring hand on his forearm as he went to dash from the room in search of the minors. "I just meant that they've been really quiet all day. I haven't heard a peep out of them since I called them down for lunch."

Ranger sagged in relief, breathing deeply and slowly. "Don't scare me like that, Babe," he said in even measured tones, and I could tell he was still trying to get himself under control.

"I'm sorry, you just caught me half way to pixie land. I just answered without thinking."

He pulled me into his arms, off the window seat I had been curled on and I immediately felt a pressure in my lower abdomen... and it's not what you're thinking; I needed to pee, _badly._ As I stood there, enveloped in his strong grips with no chance of getting out, the pressure only got worse. After a couple of minutes I started to jiggle, not wanting to pull away from his reassuring warmth, but unable to control my bladder much longer. "Babe?" he enquired, lifting his head from where it had been resting atop my own to look at my face. I shifted from foot to foot with in his embrace, and, unconsciously rubbed myself against him. Before I could even explain myself his lips were crashing down on mine and there was another pressure joining the fray in my lower abdomen.

Reluctantly pulling away, I gave him an apologetic look and raced down the hall to the bathroom. When I returned to the lounge room a few minutes later it was to find he had taken up the now vacant space on the window seat and was gazing out at the night sky. "What was that about?" he asked, turning to pull me into his lap. His eyes roved my face, which, I'm sure held a very relieved and satisfied expression and he added regretfully, "Did I miss something?"

I chuckled at his innuendo, shaking my head slightly as I snaked my arms around his neck. "Ranger," I began, "If a bean's a bean, what's a pea?"

He looked utterly confused at my question and I laughed a little more. "I don't understand, Babe," he said after a moment of thought.

"Whenever my Grandmother came out of the bathroom after tending to business, as Mum calls it, she would ask me and Val, 'If a bean's a bean, what's a pea'. To which the standard reply was 'A bloody great relief.'"

His eyes seemed to brighten for a nanosecond before the confusion returned and he uttered, "I still don't get it."

"Have you ever had to hold a full bladder?" I asked him, trying to make him understand. He nodded. "You know that feeling just after emptying it? That kind of satisfied relief?"

Understanding dawned on his face like a light bulb being switched on. This caused me to fall over from simple laughter to full on hysterics. His face was priceless. I couldn't help but guffaw at the sight of him realising I what I was talking about. When I finally sobered he was smiling at me and shaking his head. "You done with that?" he asked, lifting me off his lap and setting my feet on the ground. I nodded silently, afraid a chuckle might slip out if I opened my mouth.

"What's so funny?" came a voice from the doorway. Glancing over I found Julie and Laura, both covered in flour, practically from head to foot, and with sauce smudges on their faces.

"Nothing much. Just you father leading a sheltered life."

"What are you wearing?" Ranger asked Laura, crouching down in front of her.

Her grin was the widest I have ever seen on her face as she replied, "Dinner!"

"You're wearing dinner?" he asked incredulously, glancing over his shoulder at me. I shrugged in response, I had no idea what was going on. "Does that mean I can eat you?"

Laura shook her head avidly, and tried to back away, but Ranger caught her forearms, lifting her up into his arms and opening his mouth wide as if to bite her. She squealed and struggled to get away. Somewhere I made out the words, "I'm not dinner!" and "Don't bite me!" but it was all quite loud, and quite high pitched and would have given me a headache if I hadn't thought to cover my ears as soon as Ranger uttered the phrase 'eat you'.

Eventually they calmed down and I felt brae enough to bare my ears. "What's with the sauce and flour, Julie?" I enquired, noting, as Ranger set the curly headed kid back on the ground that he too was now covered in flour.

"Well, we came downstairs a couple of hours ago and you were staring off into I-don't-know-where. I noticed that there hadn't been any preparations made for dinner, so I decided that Chef Julie and her assistant Loza would take care of the evening meal. We found all the ingredients in the cupboards and stuff, and we made pizzas."

This kid was too good to be true, I tell you. Not only had she given me the entire afternoon and early evening to myself by entertaining Laura, she had made dinner. She was like the dream daughter, my only hope was that Laura was half as good as her, even that would be far beyond normal standards for a teenager.

Sniffing the air, it was then that I noticed the aroma of pizza. I can't believe I had missed it. And how had I not known they were in the kitchen making pizza? It was literally just across the hall!

Ranger was chuckling beside me as he watched the expressions glide over my face. "You were way out of it, weren't you, Babe?" he asked, moving to hug me as a twang of shock registered with the thought of what could have happened without my knowledge.

Quickly, I jumped away holding my arms out to fend him off. "Stay back!" I exclaimed "You're all flour-y."

"I'm just trying to share the love, Babe," he soothed.

I continued to back away slowly as he made his advances. Much to my dismay, though, once I made it half way across the room I was ambushed but Laura and Julie; one flour child from each side. I fell backwards with a groan and they came tumbling down ontop of me. We were a tangle of arms, legs and giggles as we each made efforts to disentangle ourselves from the knot, but all were unsuccessful. After a few moments I simply gave up, and flopped down on the carpet.

When I got a glance at Ranger's expression from where he stood just off to the side, it was one of envy. Not because I was entangled with both his daughters, though, that much I could tell from the way his eyes had gone completely black with lust. I was in for it once he got me alone, although, I had a feeling it might be a while off yet. There wasn't much room for an intimate liaison with a three year old who chose all the wrong moments, and a teenager who knew everything.

I sighed, half through sadness and half through relief when Ranger lifted the bodies off me before pulling me to my feet and hard up against his very affected body. "I'm a goner, aren't I?" I asked in barely a whisper.

His only response was to growl in my ear as he bit it gently.

"Dinner should be ready in about three minutes," Julie interrupted with a smirk on her face. She may be a complete and utter blessing, but she was still a teenager. And all teenagers are the same once you strip away the packaging and embellishments. They all find entertainment and humour in depriving adults (especially their parents) of any form of fun (especially the kind Ranger had in mind).

The girls left to attend to their meal and Ranger leaned his forehead against my own. "What are we going to do when Laura gets to that age?" he asked.

"Buy her enough gadgets and gizmos so that she'll be sufficiently distracted?" I suggested.

_Don't forget those loverly reviews you know I love. Hugs_


	26. Chapter 26

_Well, I discovered that I have a four day weekend nowadays and since as of yet the work load is still pretty light, I managed to squeeze out a chapter for all my wonderful readers. Hope you all like it._

**Chapter 26**

After dinner Laura insisted on us all watching a movie together. That was fine by me; I had no intention of doing anything much this evening anyway. Ranger, on the other hand, had a pained expression on his face as he was pulled into the living room by Little Laura and followed closely by Julie who was pushing him forward. I chuckled a little at the spectacle. At her age, Julie was supposed to be rebelling, refusing to spend time with her parents, but it seemed it was the exact opposite. Perhaps it was Laura's influence, or the fact that Julie had not, in fact, known her father until recent years. In any case, the two girls made quite a sight, pushing and pulling their father into the living room while discussing what movie to watch.

I knew for a fact that Ranger would not have let them move him if he didn't want them to, but his expression at the suggestions they both kept shooting out was one of pure agony. I was barely containing my laughter as the girls sat him down on the couch and Julie moved to the DVD cabinet. Laura settled herself on Ranger's lap and I sat down on one side of them.

"The Little Mermaid. The Little Mermaid Two. Lion King One, Two and Three. The Wiggles Various DVDs including movies. Hi-5 various DVDs. Drop Dead Fred. I don't know, Laura what do you want to watch?" Julie was grinning as she rattled off the various titles, smile widening with each new option. Soon she was sporting a full on two hundred watt smile that was so much like her father's, with a wicked twinkle in her eyes.

"Drop Dead Fred!" Laura exclaimed. It came as no surprise to me, it was her absolute, all time favourite movie. I myself was actually quite horrified the first time I watched it as it seemed to be the spitting image of my life, except of course that none of my imaginary friends had been quite so outrageous.

As Julie set up the DVD Ranger groaned aloud. I turned to watch as he hid his face in Laura's glorious curls, eyes shut tight. "Is everything all right?" I asked quietly, next to his ear. He turned his head to catch my eyes in an alarmingly panicked stare. "Are you okay?" I reiterated, raising my hand to cup his cheek reassuringly.

"I can't believe I'm about to watch a children's movie!" he gritted out. His eyes widened suddenly in realisation. "You can't let any of the guys know about this!"

I was beyond laughing at this point. Truth was, I was guffawing, I was in hysterics. If I had been standing up when he uttered those words I'd have fallen to the floor in a fit of mirth. Julie, I realised, through the haze of hilarity and blurred vision, was also laughing, doubled over halfway between the couch and the television.

"What's so funny?" Laura was demanding, hands on hips. She still sat on Ranger's lap and he was showing no signs of releasing her, actually, he seemed to be trying to hide behind her. I noticed his shoulders were shaking and my efforts to stop giggling were shot back.

"Ranger!" I finally managed to cough out as the ruckus in the room died down a bit. "I can assure you that your entire A-team, if not the entire company, has already seen this movie."

Suddenly sobering from his own laughter at my words, Ranger fixed me with a hardened stare. "How can you know that?" he asked, his voice portraying how serious he was, or at least, how serious he was trying to be, I realised as his lips twitched.

"This is Loza's fave, Dad," Julie chimed in, now sitting on the floor where she had been stooped earlier, facing us on the couch. "She would watch it every day if she could."

Ranger's eyes flitted from Laura, to Julie, to me and fixed on my face for a little longer than the girls. I simply nodded. "Lester sat down and watched it with her every day for a week. And as he left he vowed that he was going to introduce everyone to it. You'll love it, I promise."

"It funny Daddy!" Laura piped up, pointing excitedly to the screen where the main menu had come up. I waited until Julie was settle on Ranger's other side, snuggled under his arm just as I had done, before pressing play.

As the credits rolled a little over an hour and a half later I disentangled myself from Ranger's arms, trying not to disturb a sleeping Laura. On his other side I noticed Julie stretch and do the same as Ranger moved the arm that had been secured around me to keep the child from slipping backwards. Laura had nodded off not long after her favourite part, having been contented by the fact that she had gotten to see 'Fred' smear dog poo on the arm chair in the living room.

Once Laura was tucked into bed I made my way to Julie's room to say goodnight. When I knocked on her open door I found her sitting on the bed tapping at the keys of her laptop. "Hey Steph," she exclaimed a little louder than she probably meant to as she hastily closed the computer. "What's up?"

My eyes moved suspiciously to the laptop that she was now shoving out of sight into her desk draw. "I came to say goodnight," I admitted. "What were you doing?"

"Nothing," she replied a little too quickly. "Just checking my email."

I nodded briefly, planting my rump on the side of her bed and taking her hand in mine. She met my gaze with practiced innocence. "You can tell me the truth, Julie," I told her. "You know you can always confide in me. I won't get mad." As I said the words I noticed her cheeks get red and she quickly averted her eyes. "What's up?" I persisted, giving her hand a squeeze.

She shook her head. "It's silly," she muttered under her breath, stilling looking everywhere but at me. "It doesn't matter."

"Of course it's not silly," I assured her. "The only thing that is ever silly are the faces your father pulls at Laura when he thinks no one is looking."

Julie chuckled a little at that. "You noticed them too?"

"I notice a lot more than everyone thinks. Like the fact that you're on that laptop of yours every chance you get." She blushed again. "And the fact that, while you're at that stage in your adolescent development where you should be rebelling against you parents you seem to be wanting to spend more time with your father instead."

Rolling her eyes, Julie finally crossed her arms and leaned back to face me again. "You've been reading too many parenting books," she claimed. _Not true, I hadn't read any parenting books! I'd watched a lot of Dr. Phil and Maury, though, does that count?_ "I'm waiting for you to call the brawl Bobby and Hector got into at the office the other day a 'minor disagreement of the physical kind'. Serious, Steph, life is rarely ever what they describe in the textbooks. Sure there may be a couple of helpful hints in there, but you have to realise that half the people who write those books have never actually had kids of there own."

I stopped her there, holding my hand up to silence her. "First, I have never in my life read a parenting book. Second, what's your point?"

She sighed. "I just meant that teenage rebellion is not only restricted to the parents, in fact, it is usually restricted to the full time caregivers, which, in my case, would be Mum and Ron. Dad was never really a part of my life until... well, you know when. I've spent half of my life not really knowing my father. Yes, I had a father figure, but nothing beats the real thing. Being here these last couple of weeks has allowed me the chance to make up for lost time. I'm living what my childhood would have been like if Dad was there and you were my mother. You're a great mother by the way. Laura is so lucky, she has wonderful parents." Tears were filling my eyes as she continued to point out all the points that made Laura the luckiest kid in the world. "I've seen how Dad is most of the time, all business and that kind of thing, but when he's with you, it's like... I have no idea how to describe it. He's just so different. And the fact that he accepted Laura so quickly when you came back is truly amazing."

"He's an amazing guy," I sniffed. "But Laura wasn't quite so accommodating when we first got back. She wasn't too sure what to think of him."

"That's a good thing, though," she urged. "You taught her stranger danger at a young age and she was slow to accept Dad until she knew he was okay. She's a truly incredible kid."

I couldn't help it any more, she had reduced me to tears. I had never actually been complimented on my parenting before, and hear such marvellous words of wisdom come from the mouth of a sixteen year old, while you wouldn't think it would mean much, actually touched my heart an awful lot. I pulled her to me in a big bear hug and she returned my embrace. "You're an incredible kid as well, Julie, and don't you ever let anyone convince you otherwise. No matter what anyone tells you, you're a terrific person and a beautiful young lady." I let a few moments of comfortable silence stretch between us as we continued to hug before returning to the original topic. I ended the embracing, holding Julie at arms length and looking earnestly into her eyes. "What's up?"

After breathing a sigh of defeat she took a deep breath and began to tell me everything.

_WATCH OUT FOR THE CLIFF!!! Just thought I'd let your imaginations run a little. What could be up with Julie? Something good? Something bad? Who knows?! At this stage I am still open for suggestions in regards to that matter._


	27. Chapter Twenty Seven

_I wrote this chapter while on the train this week. I knew public transport travel had a positive side. Well, here it is I hope you all enjoy it._

**Chapter Twenty-Seven**

She drew her knees up under her chin, hiding her face in her hands at the same time. Her words were muffled, but I was still able to make out what she was saying. I just wasn't sure if I understood exactly.

"I'm at a loss at what to do, Steph," she began, shaking her still hidden head from side to side. "I don't know. I just don't know."

"What don't you know?" I prodded, trying and failing to form any kinds of connections between her statement and events that I know of that have occurred in her life recently.

Typically of a girl her age, who has been studying English at high school for far too long and with a great deal of passion, all that come from her mouth was hard for me to interpret. Her sentences were perfectly formed and words carefully measured to the point that I could have sworn she was speaking another language. I put it down the fact that I got a D in English when I was at school and did my best to decipher her words.

"I think I'm pregnant," she breathed.

Okay, so I lied. No measuring of words here, no perfection, just the plain and simple statement that made me fall off the bed. No really, when I realised what she had said, my ass was firmly planted on the mauve carpet beside her bed. I knew for a fact that my eyes were wider than they had ever been in my entire life, simply because I could see a full three hundred and sixty degrees without moving my eyes, head or body. My mouth was like an open cavity, waiting to be filled, and I knew that anything I said now would probably fill that cavity with my foot.

Eloquent as I am in times of danger, stress or fear, I managed to squeak out a tight, "Wha-?"

She was refusing to meet my eyes again. Shit. I felt so bad for her at that moment. I knew how alarming it was when I realised _I_ was pregnant, and I had been thirty three at the time; I couldn't even begin to imagine the fear of knowing you had pretty much just ruined your life. The likelihood of her finishing school now were slim to none.

"I said, I think I'm pregnant," Julie repeated, her voice barely a whisper as she drilled her stare into the bed clothes.

_OH CRAP! _I thought, sudden realisation hitting me. _How was I going to tell Ranger? _

It's not your place to tell Ranger, my sensible side butted in, this is something she has to do herself.

_She's just a kid for crying out loud!_

She's sixteen, reminded sensible Stephanie. Remember what you were like at her age?

That's when I did the dirty with Joe behind the éclair case. A course of events I am none too proud of, and has haunted me to this very day.

I was pulled from my thoughts by the sound of sobbing, at least I thought it was sobbing, until I looked up and caught a glimpse of her face. She was laughing! I could not believe it, this was one of the worse things that could happen to her and she was LAUGHING! I had half a mind to slap her up side the head, but knew that with all the child protection laws I would never have gotten away with it, that and the fact that Ranger would have killed me.

"What's so funny?" I asked suspiciously.

"I'm sorry, Steph, I had to. I needed to see your reaction; it's for a research project I'm doing for extra credit."

"How is frightening me half to death an extra credit project?" I demanded. I must confess, I was having quite a hard time controlling myself at this point. "I thought you were serious! I thought you had ruined your life just like I-." I cut myself off.

"Just like you, what?" Julie asked timidly.

"It doesn't matter," I muttered, standing and heading to the door. "Why don't you get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Julie mumbled. As I reached the door she called softly, "Steph?" I paused, not turning around, just waiting for her to go on. "I'm really sorry; I didn't mean to scare you like that. Please don't tell Dad."

Silently, I nodded. My heart was thumping in my chest and I was struggling to keep my breathing under control. I left her alone, heading straight for my own bedroom, pulling on one of Ranger's t-shirts and slipping between the sheets, willing myself to calm down.

Moments later Ranger entered the room, a confused expression on his face as he glanced over my curled form. As he crossed the room toward me he stripped himself of all but his boxers, tossing his clothing onto the chair in the corner. Sitting on the side of the bed he brushed one of my wavy strands of hair away from my face, planting a soft kiss on my temple at the same time. For a moment he just sat there, staring into what I suspected were scared eyes as his hand continued to caress my face.

"What's wrong?" he asked quietly, laying down beside me and pulling me into his arms. "Babe, you heart is racing, what happened?"

I flashed him a tight smile. "It just hit me that we'll married in a week," I lied. "I guess it kind of took me by surprise."

At this, Ranger chuckled, tightening his grip on me. "Nothing bad is going to happen, Babe. Not while I'm around."

"I know," I sighed, but couldn't suppress the memories that had been brought up by those four simple words Julie had uttered. Those were days that I thought I had thoroughly suppressed, so much so that I thought I would never have remembered them. I had spent so much time forgetting that to remember now made me feel a failure.

"Sleep," he whispered in my ear. He rubbed soothing circles on my back, and before I knew it I was asleep. Off in a land of my own creation. A land that had turned sour this night and now haunted my dreams with visions of what would have been if things had been different; what I would not have been able to do. I slept restlessly that night and was relieved when the dawn came and I no longer had to endure sleep.

I awoke as Ranger slipped from the bed and, as much as I tried to disguise the fact, he leaned over and uttered, "Morning Babe," in my ear. Rolling over to face him, I found him smiling. "Did you sleep well?" he asked, "You were moaning a lot."

I shook my head. I knew what he was thinking, and that wasn't the reason I had been moaning. There had been absolutely no pleasure in the cause of my moans, only fear, and pain. The dreams that had plagued my sleep had been devastating. Images I never wanted to think about again.

Pulling me into his arms and cradling me against his chest he seemed to be rocking back and forth. I had to smile at this, as it was something he had picked up from calming Laura down. He was making shushing sounds into my hair and I felt the sensation of it roll down my back. The next thing I knew I was being woken to the sound of soft knocking on the bedroom door.

"Steph?" came Julie's timid voice, "Are you awake?"

"Yeah," I mumbled softly, rubbing my eyes with the back of my hands. "Yes," I repeated a little louder so she could here me.

"Can I come in? I made you breakfast."

I know it shouldn't have been the deciding factor, but it was. I was hungry and she was an excellent cook. Sitting up I called for her to come in. She set a tray with fresh squeezed orange juice, egg, bacon and an English muffin on the bed and stood awkwardly off to the side. "I'm really sorry about last night," she told me.

Smiling a little, I motioned for her to sit down on the bed, she did so and waited for me to say something. I, however, was still trying to formulate something to say, so to by myself some more time I took a sip of juice and asked, "Where's your father?"

Now it was her turn to give a slight smile. "There was a note on the fridge when I went down, it said 'Loza gots to run'. I figured you'd know what that meant."

I nodded. "Last night doesn't matter, Julie. I was a bit shocked and scared for you. I don't want you to ruin your life, that's all. There are so many opportunities that you would miss by becoming a mother at such an early stage, graduating from high school for a start."

Julie nodded her understanding, still looking sheepish. "It wasn't really for an extra credit assignment," she admitted. "I just wanted to see your reaction. I didn't mean to stress you out so much."

"Why did you want to see my reaction?" I asked, failing to see logic in her statement.

She sighed heavily, running a hand through her hair just as I had seen Ranger do countless times before. "I tried it on my mother a few months ago and her only reaction was to say 'That's nice dear, I hope you know who the father is,' and then turned and walked away. I was sure that that shouldn't have been her reaction to my possibly ruining my life, I mean, I'm her daughter, she's supposed to get angry knowing that I've been doing stuff like that at my age, right? I wanted to see a true mother's reaction, to confirm my thoughts." She paused momentarily, taking a deep breath before continuing. "She doesn't really care all that much about me, Steph."

There were tears in her eyes as she said the words, and I could only imagine what it would feel like to know that you own mother didn't give a damn about you. At least I had had the acknowledgement that I was a screw up in my mother's eyes. She had told me every chance she got that I wasn't living up to the standards she had set for me. Julie's mother simply shrugged her off. If I ever laid eyes on the woman there had better be someone there to hold me back because I wasn't sure I would be able to control my limbs.

I moved the breakfast tray out of the way and dragged Julie across the bed and into my lap where I proceeded to hug her tight to me. Her head was on my shoulder and I could feel the fabric of my night shirt dampening, but I didn't care; the only thing that matter right now was making sure that Julie knew she was loved. Biologically she was not mine, but knowing how much Ranger loved her, and knowing how much her mother obviously didn't, I felt my heart swell with my own love for her. I loved her as a mother loves her child, and I knew Laura loved her as a sister. No matter what, there would always be a place for her in my heart.

After a while of sitting like this, Julie coughed and sat up, swiping at her eyes. The tears had stopped, leaving behind only the tracks that had made their way down her cheeks. She glanced over at the tray and her eyes widened in horror. "It's probably cold by now!" she exclaimed, jumping off the bed.

I chuckled a little in spite of myself. "It doesn't matter. What matters is you. I'll just go down and have some cereal. Have you eaten?" I asked, taking in her nightie. She shook her head, part in dismay and part in answer to my question. "Don't worry about it," I assured her, "I'm sure it would have tasted superb. Now let's go eat." At that my stomach growled and Julie laughed. "I need to feed the monster."

We were just slurping up the last of the milk from our bowls when Laura bounded into the kitchen with Ranger on her heels. "MORNING MUMMY!" she screamed hugging my waist before running around to my other side and screaming, "MORNING JULIE!" and hugging hers.

"Morning Loza," I replied with a soft laugh. "Did you go for a run did you?"

She nodded enthusiastically, climbing up onto a chair at the table and standing there with hands on hips. "We went a long way! Daddy getted puffed but he didn't say so. He's a wimp."

I looked to where Ranger was bent over behind the refrigerator door, looking at the contents. He popped his head over the top to meet my gaze and gave me a sheepish smile. "She runs fast."

"Julie, Daddy and me are gonna build my swing set. Wanna help? We gots to make sure he does it right."

Smiling broadly, Julie sent a questioning glance my way. "Ranger doesn't like to read instruction manuals too much, so goes by guess and by god. It took him a few hours to put Laura's bed together."

"Will you help?" Laura persisted. "I can't read, so ain't gonna be that good at keeping him straight."

"Of course I'll help, Loz," Julie agreed. "Just let me go get dressed."


	28. Chapter 28

_Well, it seems the train is a very good place to have an idea. Here is the latest chapter; I hope you all enjoy it. It's one of the only things keeping me from going insane right now._

**Chapter 28**

I sat on the back patio watching as Ranger put together the swing set. The girls sat nearby on the grass watching, while constantly consulting the instruction booklet they had between them, occasionally telling him he was doing something or other wrong and explaining what he should have done. Before long it was constructed and nailed to the ground for safety and as Ranger helped Laura into one swing, Julie was swinging on the other.

Ranger pulled the swing back high over his head and was about to let go when Laura squealed at him. "NO!" It pierced the air and my ears, I could only imagine how Ranger felt, being so much nearer the source of the scream than me. "NO, DADDY PUT ME DOWN!!" There was fear in the little girls eyes as her legs dangled in the air in front of her father. Even from this distance I could see that her little hands had a white knuckled grip on the chain.

Julie had stopped swinging at the sound of Laura frightened cries. "It's too high, Dad," she told him.

Ranger lowered the swing into its usual hanging position and Laura was immediately clawing at the safety chain across her front, trying to get out. Julie quickly undid it for her and helped her down. The moment Laura's feet hit the ground she was running right for me. I automatically bundled her in my arms and she buried her face in my shoulder, trembling from the adrenaline. Julie was beside me a moment later, rubbing Laura's back and whispering soothing tones. Ranger, I noticed was standing back a bit with a confused, yet scared look on his face.

"She's not all that confident on the swings," I told him softly. "I'll explain later."

Once she was calmed down, I asked Julie to take her inside and play a game of hide and go seek with her. Ranger sat down next to me on the deck chair and I grasped his hand firmly in mine. I could still make out the fear in his eyes, although, it wasn't as apparent now that he knew Laura was okay. "I don't get it," Ranger breathed. "When I was a kid I loved it when I was let out from that height. It was invigorating!"

"So did I," I conceded. "And so did Laura up until a few months ago." He gave me a questioning glance and I moved on to explain. "A few months ago we were at the park," I began. "Laura was playing in the sandpit, next to the swings watching as the big kids helped the little kids go high. One little boy, he was about five, got onto a big kid swing and his older brother pulled him back, much like you just did with Laura. He let go of the swing sending the boy flying, but when he reached the other end of the swing he didn't come back with it. The force of the chain snapping taut projected him off the swing, landing winded and with a broken arm some feet away. Ever since she's been afraid to even touch a swing, until today."

Ranger hung his head, a hang dog expression on his face. "I'm sorry, Babe."

"It's okay," I assured him. "You didn't know."

"I should have known," he said bitterly, not meeting my gaze. I knew what he was thinking; if I hadn't run away all those years ago he probably would have known. He was blaming me for him not knowing, but also ashamed that he was putting the blame on me. I stood abruptly, catching his attention. "Where are you going Babe?" he asked frantically. I simply kept walking. He was hurrying to catch up when I reached the back door and entered the kitchen. "Babe? Babe, I didn't mean that as in- Where are you going?"

I stopped in the doorway to the living room, scanning the area for feet on the drapes or hands sticking out from under lumpy sofa cushions; when I found none I moved to the hall closet. I knocked softly; no giggles. Next I took the stairs two at a time and found Julie coming out of the bathroom.

"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly, seeing my look of determination and glancing past me to her father, who I can only assume held an expression of confused concern on his face.

"Nothing, Jules," I said pulling her into a hug. "Where do you have left to look?" A puzzled expression came over her face as she pointed to Laura's bedroom. "Closet," I informed her, knowing my child's favourite hiding places. Julie nodded, entered the room and within minutes the beautiful sound of giggles met my ears.

Julie dragged her out moments later, holding her upside down. "Your mummy wants you," Julie was saying, through her own laughter, handing me my very own upside down daughter.

I flipped her with practiced ease and looked her straight in the eye. She returned my gaze with determination, the smile still plastered across her face. No words were exchanged, I just started back down the stairs and out through the kitchen.

"Babe?" Ranger's worried voice was following me. "You aren't running out on me again are you?"

Throwing a glance over my shoulder I saw Ranger stopped on the patio staring after me in confusion and Julie whispering close to his ear. Clarity dawned over his face like a light bulb being switched on. The worry lines between his eyebrows smoothed and the scared expression in his eyes were replaced by love, affection and a smile.

Setting Laura down on the ground a few feet away from the newly erected swing set, I crouched down to her level.

"What's up?" Laura asked innocently.

"You're going to swing," I told her, turning her to face the swings. "The only way to conquer your fear is to do it."

She quickly turned back around and clutched at my blouse. "I don't want to swing, Mummy, it's scary."

"You'll be fine, Mummy will swing with you." I sat down on the swing, pulling her onto my lap and wrapping an arm securely around her waist. Once sure that she would not squirm and break free of my hold I began to swing. Just a gentle back and forth motion to begin with, my feet staying in one spot, slowly making the movements wider until we were swinging as high as I could get us.

Her laughter filled the air and I eventually slowed us to a stop. She quickly wriggled free and dropped to the ground, jumping up and down over by the child safe swing exclaiming, "I swing by myself!"

Julie, who had apparently come down while we were swinging, helped her in and fastened the chain across her. Laura swung her feet a few times but could seem to get it going. "Push?" she asked.

Julie went to pull her back a bit, but I stopped her, indicating that I would do it. Nodding, she climbed onto the other swing and started to pump her legs to get as high as she could. I pushed Laura a little so that she was moving about half a meter to each side of vertical and she took over, mimicking Julies movements.

I stood back and found myself enveloped in Ranger's strong arms. He leaned down and kissed me thoroughly on the mouth, turning me into his embrace. When we broke apart we spent an infinite length of time (and I say infinite simply because none of us actually knew how long) just staring into each other's eyes.

"Why did you do that sooner?" he asked minimally.

I shrugged, not exactly sure why I hadn't. "I guess I just assumed she'd gotten an interest in the other parts of the playground and forgotten about the swings."

Ranger opened his mouth to say more, but was interrupted by a now stationary Julie calling, "Hey Dad, could I get a push?"

We both looked over; I saw the plan fully formulated at the front of her mind. Ranger pulled her back a bit and was about to let go when Julie said, "I bit higher, Dad." It was then that I saw it click in Ranger's brain what she was trying to do.

"You sure Jules?" he asked, pulling her back up as far as he could manage.

"Of course I am, Dad, I love going high!"

"Okay, hold on tight." I had to bite my lip to keep from bursting out in hysterical laughter at the completely staged dialogue as Ranger let go and Julie went soaring back and forth and a dizzying speed.

Watching the exchange intently, a motionless Laura shouted, "I go high too, Daddy!" and Ranger repeated the action, to a lesser degree, with his younger daughter. He stood for a while, alternately pushing each of them to give them extra oomph and I snuck off, back the house.

000::o::000

I was just packing the last of the sandwiches into the picnic basket the next morning with the help of Julie, while Ranger packed the drinks into the cooler bag, when Laura came bounding into the kitchen. We'd let her sleep in later than usual today. She was fully dressed and had clearly attempted to do her own hair as it hung in a lopsided pony tail with an entire section missed on the left side of her head. On closer inspection I saw that her top was on back to front; I giggled at the sight along with Julie while Ranger looked on her in horror.

"What happened to you?" he asked incredulously. "Your hair's all weird and you shirt's on backwards." He was trying to sound teasing, but was achieving it too well.

Julie must have seen the quiver in her lip at Ranger's words, because she added, "You're Backwards Girl!"

This brought a smile to Laura's face and she started to do a little dance to an imaginary song. Stopping mid dance she held up a finger in inspiration. She took her shoes off and put them on the wrong feet before gripping the waistband of her pink Ra-Ra skirt and spinning it so the too was back to front. "Now I'm Backwards Girl!" she exclaimed in delight and broke into a song of her own creation. "_I'm Backwards Girl, I'm Backwards Girl. With my backwards shirt, and my backwards skirt and my backwards shoes! I'm Backwards Girl."_ She paused a moment in song to add a little jig like dance before continuing. "Ready?" she said, starting to march around the table like a soldier. "I'm BACKWARDS GIRL!"

We were all thoroughly chuckling by the time she finished. A voice pulled us all back down to earth as it spoke in amused tones from the doorway. "Backwards Girl, eh? Well If you're Backwards Girl, why don't you talk backwards? And that wasn't a backwards march, was it?" Spinning around we spotted Lester standing, leant against the doorframe of the back door. "We'll have to work on that, Loza."

"Uncle Lester!" Laura squealed running across the room and launching herself at the man. They hugged tightly with Laura's feet dangling in the air.

Setting the child on the floor he measured from the top of her head to the middle of his thigh. "I haven't seen you in a couple of weeks, Squirt. You seem taller. Have you grown?"

Laura shrugged. "Have _you_ grown?"

Chuckling, Lester shook his head and crouched down behind Laura as she turned around. "Who's that?" he whispered in her ear, indicating to Julie.

"That's Julie, Uncle Lester. She's my big sister. She likes to swing high."

"Is that so?" Lester asked of Julie, straightening again. Julie nodded, hands in pockets where she had put them upon Lester's appearance. "Where's my love? I require all my nieces to love and adore me as their uncle. That means running to me excitedly when I arrive and hugging me as if it will save your life." He held his arms out for Julie who hesitated a moment before racing forward into his embrace. Laughter gurgled from her lips as he ruffled her hair. "God it's good to see you Jules."

"It's good to see you too Uncle Lester," Julie replied, pulling back from her uncle's arms to look him in the eye. Her own eyes were shining with unshed tears. "I missed you so much," she choked.

This struck me as odd, because I knew for a fact that Lester and Julie got to visit less often than Ranger and Julie. And Julie had been of a very young age when Ranger had left them. Something to think about later; for now though, I had an irrepressible urge to disbackwardise my daughter and fix her hair.

Laura was watching me intently and saw the look in my eyes. "Daddy!" she cried, running to him. "She's gonna fix me!!"

Ranger lifted her off the floor, holding her away from him so that I could fix her skirt and shoes. "No mercy here, Loza. You gotta look good for the ducks and squirrels." She crossed her arms over her chest as he set her on the table and attempted to pull the shirt off of her. "Come on, Laura," he pleaded, "Just lift your arms!"

She shook her head emphatically. "No!"

Lester I noticed was sneaking up behind her and as Ranger gripped the hem of Laura's top, Lester tickled the girl vigorously under the arms. As soon as her arms were moving to evade Lester Julie moved in to hold her arms above her head. Eventually, they got the top off, but not before they were all reduced to a pile of laughter, rolling on the floor.


	29. Chapter Twenty Nine

_As a reward for getting 98.5 per cent on my first assignment, I allowed myself to write this chapter. I'm not sure how good it is, given that I had to reboot my brain to figure out where I was going with it from the last chapter, but it's here, and I'm as happy as I'll ever be with it. Enjoy!_

**Chapter Twenty Nine**

The colours were more vibrant than I had ever noticed before. The greens were greener, the pinks pinker and the yellows looked like the sun shining. I took a long deep breath and let it out slowly, glorifying in the relaxed feeling I had all through my body. In a matter of days I would be married to the hottest guy on the planet, the father of my child, the one and only for my heart, and I was not the least bit nervous. With Dickie I had been nervous as all get out; doubting my decision right up until the moment I signed the paper. A week later I learned that there was a good reason for me to be nervous about marrying him. Damn Joyce. Although, if it hadn't been for her I would never have divorced him, which means I probably never would have lost my job as a lingerie buyer, which means I probably wouldn't have become a bounty hunter, which means I probably wouldn't have met Ranger, which means I probably wouldn't have had my beautiful Laura, which means...

"What are you thinking?" Ranger asked by my ear, interrupting my thoughts.

I turned my head to capture his lips with my own before answering, "Nothing much, just that I should be thankful that Joyce slept with my husband a week after my wedding because then I wouldn't have all the wonderful things I have now."

"Is that so?" he asked, pulling me to my feet on the picnic blanket and turning me in his arms. I nodded my reply as his hands travelled down my back to cup my ass. "And what would these wonderful things be?"

I chuckled a little. "You and Laura."

"Wonderful, am I?" he asked. "Don't let Les hear that, he'll be jealous."

"Too late," came Lester's voice from behind us. "I heard."

I spun out of Ranger's arms and wrapped myself around Lester. "Don't worry, Les, you're wonderful too. I don't know what I would have done without you over the years." I kissed him on the lips briefly and felt his hand move lower on my back. Before I had time to warn him not to, Ranger's hands were firmly at my waste pulling me from his brother's grips.

"See this?" he said in a menacing tone, thrusting my left hand under Lester's nose. "It means she's mine. Hands off."

"Woah bro, chillax!" Lester exclaimed, stepping back with his hands held up in an 'I surrender' gesture. "I know she's your territory. I even brought her back to you, remember?"

"I know, and that's why you're the best man, remember? But you can't just kiss her."

"She kissed me."

I propped my hands on my hips and waited for them to stop. It didn't seem like it was going to happen any time soon, so I spoke up. "I'm right here guys."

"I know you are, Babe," Ranger said, turning a smile my way and pulling me to him. "And I never want to see your lips on his face again, got it?"

"Loud and clear," I replied, saluting him mockingly.

He pulled me to him, crashing his lips down on mine in a bone melting kiss that lasted a long time; I'm not sure how long exactly, but I'm sure Lester could give you an over exaggerated estimate if you asked him. Tongues were mingled and lips were bitten, hands moved to inappropriate places for a children's playground and suddenly there were smoochie sounds from somewhere nearby. It was me who broke off the kiss (probably, Ranger would have kept going until we both fainted from lack of oxygen) and looking around I found the peanut gallery (ah, what a wonderfully annoying sight it was to behold). Lester was holding Laura up so that she was at his level and they both had their lips pursed in fake kisses, complete with noises.

Julie was nowhere to be seen.

"Knock it off you two," Ranger said, following my gaze, but never once loosening his grip on me.

"Where's Julie?" I asked.

Laura shrugged, hopping down from Lester's arms and digging in the picnic basket for a snack. "We was playing Hidey Sick but I can't find her."

Ranger turned a confused gaze on me and I chuckled. "Hide and Seek," I explained. "Honey," I addressed the young girl. "What did I tell you about the rules of Hidey Sick?" Laura shrugged again as she pulled an apple out of the basket. "You're supposed to yell, Ollie Ollie oxen free, remember?" Her beautiful curls bounced from side to side as she shook her head, no.

#

My eyes were closed as the make-up artist went about her work. The hairdresser was putting curlers in my hair ( yes, I was determined to have curls on my wedding day) and Laura was hyperactive. It wasn't bad enough that I had the normal pre wedding jitters, but I had to deal with the three year old's antics as well. Admittedly, I was not alone in my battle, but I was the only one who knew just how to deal with her and the only one whom she would listen to anyway. She sat still long enough for her nails to be painted and dried and now she was practically bounding off the walls.

I sensed as much as heard her galloping by my chair and thrust an arm out to stop her, catching her in the chest. She was in her pyjamas because we didn't see the point in dressing her twice today and her feet were clad only in slippers. As my arm struck her chest she let out a slight groan, but allowed me to pull her over toward me.

"Sweetie, Mummy needs you to sit still. Can you do that for Mummy?" I asked in the sweetest tone I could muster. She nodded and went and sat down somewhere. I'm not sure where; I couldn't see. I beckoned Mare over with the same hand that had caught Laura's chest. "How much sugar has she had?" I asked my maid of honour.

"I haven't seen her eat anything, Steph," she replied.

I let out a small sigh. "She needs to run."

"Run?" Mare asked incredulously.

"She has excess energy that she needs to burn, that's why she's been bouncing off the walls. I don't want her running all over the place during the ceremony. It's a wonder she hasn't said that she needs to run."

Mare chuckled. "Maybe she realises that today is about you. She's an amazingly perceptive kid."

"Call Lester and get him to take her to the park and do a few laps. Just enough so that she doesn't have all this energy. When he brings her back, then they can get started on her hair."

"Wouldn't Lester be busy with guy prep this morning?" Val asked from one seat over. Where she was getting her own face made up.

"He did offer to take her off my hands for the morning, but she still needs to have her hair done. Use my cell, Laura should have it."

A few minutes later, Lester waltzed into the salon, frightening the hair stylist and make up artist. They thought he was the groom. As the rest of us laughed, Les came over and kissed the top of my now curly head. He was in jeans and a t-shirt and in his hands he held a pair of rubber gloves. He must have noticed my curious gaze, because he chuckled.

"Hey Loza, gots to run?" he called. She nodded enthusiastically and ran across the room into her uncle's arms. As he hoisted her into his arms he picked up one of her hands. "These are pretty nails, you don't want to ruin them before the wedding do you?" he asked. When Laura shook her head with a glance at me he held up the gloves for her to slip on. "There, that should protect them. Let's go for a run shall we?"

As he strode out the door I breathed a sigh of relief and gave a momentary glance to Mare to confirm that she had told him to bring the gloves before moving my gaze to my mother. She had been sitting quietly all morning, too quietly if you asked me, and I wanted to make sure nothing was wrong. It just didn't feel right without my mother giving me last minute pointers and trying to control everything. Now, I saw there was an odd expression on her face.

"Are you alright Mom?" I asked.

She simply nodded at first, and I thought that was all she was going to give me as an answer. "You're so beautiful," she finally whispered. "And so at ease. I remember the morning of your joining with Dickface. You were a mess." My mouth hung open. Did she just say what I think she said? SHE DID!! She called Dickie 'Dickface'. That must be one the proudest moments in my life, my mother finally built up the courage to insult my ex. I could have wept. No I mustn't get teary, I'll ruin my beautiful makeup. "Don't look so shocked, Stephanie. He was an absolute bastard and you know that. I can't believe you married him in the first place."

Okay, deep breaths, it's okay. She was the one pressuring me to marry him in first place, but it's okay. It doesn't matter. Val was watching the exchange through the mirror as the artist applied her lipstick. He eyes were wide and she kept giving me weird sympathetic glances. When the artist was finally happy with her appearance she scuttled (yes, she literally scuttled, like a crab; and it looked HI-larious) over to my chair where the stylist was now arranging my curls in an unrefined, yet elegant manner. "Steph, I'm so sorry. When I picked her up this morning she was already half way through a brand new bottle of scotch. I know it was brand new because she only bought it yesterday." Her hands were on my shoulders, giving a slight pressure as if to reassure me. I must admit, it was a refreshing new side of my sister that I don't think I had EVER seen before. "Everything will be okay, I promise. Albert is going to keep a close eye on her to make sure she doesn't sneak anymore alcohol." _Oh now I feel reassured, Albert's on the case. Nothing can go wrong now._ I mentally rolled my eyes as she returned to her seat and I returned my attention to the hair on my head.


	30. Chapter 30

_Well, it took me a hell of a long time to get to this point and a few tries to actually get it right, but I finally came up with perfect solution during yet another boring, repetitive Music Techniques lecture. So, here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for, the wedding and sadly, the end of the story. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you who have stuck with me through thick and thin and the long dry spells, I appreciated each and every review and hope that you enjoyed it as much as you said you did._

**Chapter 30**

_You are the lighthouse, the sea mark_

_The tempest created this time_

_I'm pulled to the black silver ocean_

_Where the current and the heavens collide_

As the limo pulled up to the gardens I was to be married in I allowed my gaze to wander over the beautiful flowers closest to the car. The gorgeous reds and blues mixed in with the ever present greens and purples. Mother nature had been kind to me. The day was suitably not too hot and not too cool with a few clouds in the sky but no rain. The whole scene reminded me of the day Ranger had proposed to me in these very gardens. My mind brought up the image of him standing in his suit at the end of that ultra long walk I would soon be taking. He was probably waiting patiently, if a little nervously for that music to start. I had no way of knowing exactly how heart-stoppingly handsome he was until I walked down that aisle, and I was just itching to be there already.

We had already decided that this would not be a traditional white wedding. This was obvious from my dress and the location, but also in the choice of song to which I would walk down the aisle to. 'Echo' by The Hush Sound. The lyrics really spoke true when it came to our relationship and we had agreed on it simultaneously, with a bit of help from Julie, who found the song in the first place. In any case, it wasn't the type of song you would imagine when you thought of a wedding. It just fit.

I thought back to my life before Laura, in particular, the day I'd met Ranger in the cafe. The memory of being all together turned on and scared by his presence washed over me and my mind immediately flew to our first night together and then every night together after that. Each lust filled caress, each gentle kiss ingrained in my memory for all time. His scent on his pillow when I awoke in his bed, and how it almost smelled better than on him, assaulted my senses as I stood by the limo so the photographer could take photos of Dad and me. I couldn't wait to be near him again.

It didn't matter how many times we were apart, how long we were gone, or even how far away we were, returning to Ranger always felt like coming home. There was nothing as comfortable as being in his arms, nothing as reassuring as hearing him uttering, "Babe," in that way of his that could be soothing when the situation called, but also sweet, and tender, and evocative, and... the list goes on, the important thing is, he could say it all with that one simple word. I gave an involuntary shiver at the thought, the memory, of our first meeting and then every meeting after that. Each one was certainly a case of the norm meeting with something so super sensual that it defied words. It was purely heaven.

_You are the brick, I am so unpredictable_

_Led by the current away_

_Your solid stage is so necessary_

_To save all those who stray_

_You were the navigator who never could lead_

_We were lost in the silver sea_

_I was the ship who was too proud to ever sink_

I could always rely on Ranger to be there when I needed him; to hold me and comfort me. He was my rock. The only thing holding me up when it came right down to it. Without him I would be sinking continuously into the world my mother had dreamed up for me. It simply wasn't me. I wasn't the kind of girl who cooked all day and held elegant little dinner parties and ran a spotless household. I needed excitement and adventure in my life, and with Ranger, and now Laura, every day was an adventure, every little detail of my life was exciting. My mother liked to plan everything down to the letter, it had always bugged me. Schedules were beyond me. I needed spontaneity; going where life took me without a moments thought.

When Ranger stepped into my life I began to follow his lead. Doing as he did, and it had worked out great, as far as my career was concerned, relationship wise, however, he seemed to fall short as an example. I found myself in a never ending wave of desire for him and not being able to act upon it left me completely mental. I wasn't sure which way was up, or whether I was going forward or backwards. Luckily, I never gave up. Once I allowed myself to fall fully into his warm, strong, firm arms I knew there was no way I could ever leave him, not entirely anyway.

_I am your thought but the water's amnesia_

_My name's on the tip of your tongue_

_My image is slipping but the memory is gripping_

_This is my breath in your lungs_

_You were the navigator who never could lead_

_We were lost in the silver sea_

_I was the ship who was too proud to ever sink_

The procession down the aisle seemed to take forever and a day. Laura went first, laying her rose petals down in her wake as she slowly walked down the carpet that had been laid between the chairs. She was all smiles, happy to be the centre of attention, if only for a few moments until Valerie followed her out. They kept pace with each other so as not to seem rushed and as I watched from behind my screen, Mary-Lou, my best friend and maid of honour started down after them maintaining the speed set by the three year old.

Finally, the time came when it was my turn to leave the safety of my hiding place and unveil myself to the scrutiny that was inevitably there. Dad took my arm and lead me out to the centre of the aisle and we paused while there was a collective gasp from the congregation. Genuine smiles lit the space and shone their brilliance at me. They'd waited a long time for this, I realised. It was obvious to them all that Ranger and I were meant to be together. This was the dream they had all been imagining for years.

We made it to the end of the long, long, long, long journey and Ranger stepped forward to take my hand from Dad's. A shiver climbed up my spine at the feel of his hand on mine and he smiled at me through my veil as we took our positions.

"We are gathered here today, to celebrate the joining of two souls to one," began the justice of peace. I kind of zoned out for a bit after that, content to simply stare into his gorgeous chocolate eyes, until I noticed that the JP was prompting Ranger to speak. "Stephanie," he said, staring at Ranger. When Ranger said nothing he tried again. "Stephanie." Still nothing, this time he leaned forward prompting one last time, "Stephanie."

Ranger seemed to snap out of whatever stupor he had been drifting in then, a grin spreading over those luscious lips of his. "Babe," he began, not waiting for more prompting from the JP, but instead going ahead with his own version of what he was supposed to say. "From the moment I saw you, I knew you were the one. The only one who could possibly tame this wild beast, so to speak. You brought about changes in me that even I didn't think was possible. I found myself wanting to spend more and more time with you. I started devising fool proof plans to get you to call in my back up. I'm ashamed to admit I actually set some of those car bombs simply so that I had the excuse to come running to your side." My mouth dropped open at this admission. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, I love you more than words can say. Each moment I'm with you my heart grows a little fonder. I can't imagine a life without you. Everything before you walked through the door to that cafe is a blur. That moment changed everything. I promise to make every day of your life from this day forth more worth it than the one before it. I'll look after you when you're sick and heal you when you're broken. With you by my side nothing can go wrong."

He paused for a bit of a moment and the JP cut in. "Brilliantly heartfelt words, Stephanie do you have anything to say in response?"

I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat during his speech and I sniffed back the threatening tears. "Ric, I love you, with my whole heart and couldn't have asked for a better husband and father of my child. I look back on the events that have lead to this day, our meeting and working and all my disasters, and I can't help but think that one moment has the power to change everything. Eight years ago if someone had told me I would be marrying an ex special forces who had planted bombs on my car in order to spend more time with me I would gladly have signed the admittance papers for the mental institution in Philadelphia, but here I am, doing just that. Nothing matters before you. I'll go to the ends of the earth for you." The lump returned and I couldn't go on. I hoped that what I'd said sounded as good out loud as it did in my head. I heard sobs coming from the crowd and new that they had had the desired effect.

"Right, well. Where are the rings?" the JP asked. Lester stepped forward and handed the rings to him and he held them out between me and Ranger. "Ricardo please take the ring, place it on Stephanie's finger and repeat after me."

He did as he was told this time and repeated the words, "With this ring I thee wed." It was a perfect fit, not that I was surprised, Ranger had a way of knowing these things.

"Now, Stephanie, it's your turn." I repeated Ranger's actions and his words and finally the moment I had been waiting for arrived. "You may now kiss the bride."

In a split second the veil was whipped back and I was flush up against his body, his lips crashing down on mine. It seemed a bit more intense than the kiss that usually went between husband and wife, but boy did I enjoy it. I had no idea where he ended and I began as I absorbed every part of his being through my mouth, giving back as much as I took. The crowd was cheering and applause filled the air. I was vaguely aware of Julie coming in close with her video camera, grinning like a maniac and uttering the words, "Wait til my friends see this."

_Echo, my voice is an echo_

_Of places I don't know_

_And stories I've been told_

_Echo, we are all connected_

_The lighthouse, the voyage_

_For history's sake would you please take notice_

The reception had gone well and we had assured Laura that we would be back in three days. Until then she would be staying at Rangeman under the care of Ella and Lester. She wasn't convinced of the situation, but we sweetened the deal by taking her and Julie for a ride around the block in the limo before we left. That's where we were now; sitting on the large bench seat feeling every bit the family. Ranger and I sat side by side with Laura on his lap and Julie huddled close to his side.

My husband kissed me on the mouth for the umpteenth time since leaving the reception hall, following it with a kiss on each of his daughter's foreheads. "I love you guys," he uttered. "No matter what I want you all to remember that the destination doesn't matter, and the journey is unimportant, so long as I have my girls by my side."

"Dad, that's so cliché," Julie told him, a broad grin on her face.

"Loves you two, Daddy," conceded the Loz-meister kissing his nose.

He turned his gaze back to mine, waiting for my response and I beamed. "I hope you have room for one more by your side," I said, laying a hand on my stomach. His jaw dropped and I nodded "I'm pregnant." I must admit, he did a terribly accurate impression of a fish out of water. I chuckled, "Don't worry, I promise I won't run away this time." And with that I leaned over and devoured his mouth as Julie and Laura erupted in laughter.

"Good to know," Ranger breathed as we broke apart. "And you were completely right. Given a moment, your entire world can change for better, for worse. This is definitely for better."

_**THE END**_


End file.
